China's Crypto Activity Hits $176 Billion on P2P Flows

Chainalysis data reveals that China generated at least $176 billion in crypto activity through peer-to-peer (P2P) flows during the 12 months ending June 2026. This figure raises questions about the effectiveness of China's crypto ban, as 59.1% of the activity occurred through domestic P2P transfers rather than centralized exchanges. The P2P share was 3.5 times higher than in the previous period, a significant divergence from global trends where exchanges dominate.

Domestic stablecoin payment activity began accelerating around March 2025, growing for 13 consecutive months. Monthly activity surged from roughly $240 million in March 2025 to nearly $5 billion a year later, driven by individuals and smaller businesses rather than large institutional transfers. During July 2025 to June 2026, China-attributed wallets held an average of $3.1 billion in stablecoins, executing $104.1 billion across 18.1 million transactions.

The annual turnover of self-custodied stablecoin holdings in China was 33.2 times, more than triple the global benchmark of 9.3 times. This high turnover suggests stablecoins are being used as working capital or settlement assets, potentially due to tighter integration of China’s social-credit system with financial and internet infrastructure. However, this remains a hypothesis, as blockchain data cannot establish the reasons behind individual payment choices.

The P2P volume in China, while substantial, is below Singapore’s $284 billion crypto economy in 2026. The data highlights the movement of funds but does not address how regulations will enforce these activities moving forward.