China's P2P Stablecoin Wallets Surge 43-Fold Despite Crypto Ban

Despite China's longstanding ban on crypto services and exchanges, peer-to-peer stablecoin transactions in the country have surged dramatically. According to Chainalysis, the number of unique wallets sending stablecoin P2P transactions in China grew 43 times between Q1 2024 and Q2 2026. This growth reflects increasing domestic, self-custodied stablecoin activity rather than a reopening of the country's exchange market.

Chainalysis estimated China's crypto economy at least $176 billion in the 2026 period, with domestic P2P activity accounting for 59.1% of that economy. This share was 3.5 times higher than in the prior period. The firm also noted that China's self-custodied stablecoin holdings turn over at 33.2 times per year, significantly higher than the global average of 9.3 times.

From July 2025 to June 2026, stablecoin transfers involving China's self-custodied holdings reached $104.1 billion across 18.1 million transfers. March 2026 recorded the largest monthly increase in domestic stablecoin transfer volume, with $4.9 billion added, according to Cointelegraph reporting on the data.

The figures are limited to the periods and categories reported by Chainalysis and should not be read as a measure of all financial activity in China or as evidence that the country's restrictions on crypto services have changed.