TLDR
- The People’s Bank of China halted Solana’s planned offline events in mainland China.
- The central bank will investigate the companies and individuals involved.
- A PBOC official called Solana a “virtual currency issuance platform” for its SOL token.
- The official said promoting Solana broke a February notice on crypto risks.
- A Shanghai lawyer said overseas crypto firms will find it harder to host mainland events.
China’s central bank says it will investigate the people and companies behind Solana’s recent promotional events on the mainland. The move comes three weeks after the blockchain project announced the opening of a new office in Shanghai.
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has stopped offline events that Solana had planned to hold in mainland China. That is according to a report on Friday by Financial News, a newspaper backed by the central bank.
From Shanghai Launch to Central Bank Probe
About three weeks ago, Solana started a large marketing campaign in Shanghai. It promoted the “grand opening” of its new city office and a series of events in major mainland cities.
The first event in the week-long Solana Accelerate China series was set for Shanghai. It was cancelled without warning.
At the time, Solana Foundation president Lily Liu said on social media that the event had been “postponed.” She said the number of people who signed up was far above the maximum capacity registered with local authorities.
The Financial News report gives a different picture. It cited an interview with an unnamed PBOC official who said the central bank had halted the events and would open investigations.
The official described Solana as a “virtual currency issuance platform” for its SOL token. SOL is the native token of the Solana blockchain and the world’s seventh-largest cryptocurrency, according to CoinMarketCap.
The official also said Solana provides technical services for issuing and trading major cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, including USDT. The PBOC views these activities as falling under its ban.
Why Beijing Says Solana Broke the Rules
According to the official, such businesses count as “illegal financial activities.” That term comes from a notice the central bank released in February on curbing cryptocurrency risks.
The official said promoting Solana in mainland China violated that notice. The investigations will cover both the entities and the individuals involved.
The February notice was issued by the PBOC together with seven other regulators. It repeated the need for strict oversight of the crypto sector.
The notice also widened the crackdown to include the onshore tokenisation of real-world assets. This refers to turning assets such as property or bonds into digital tokens within mainland China.
Beijing has stepped up its actions against cryptocurrency in recent years. It treats businesses tied to virtual currencies as illegal.
Solana did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The Financial News report did not name the entities or individuals that will face investigation.
Some in the industry had been “excited” by Solana’s recent moves in China, according to Liu Honglin. He is the founder and director of Mankun Law Firm, a blockchain-focused firm in Shanghai.
In a WeChat article published on Friday, Liu wrote that the activity had led some people to wonder whether domestic policy had changed. Many had hoped Beijing was easing its stance on crypto.
He said the PBOC’s latest statement shows it will be increasingly hard for overseas crypto firms to host events on the mainland. This applies even to events focused only on blockchain technology, he wrote.
