China’s central bank says Solana’s Shanghai event was stopped over illegal crypto promotion

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has responded that it disrupted Solana’s mid-October event in Shanghai because of the illegal virtual currency marketing red flags raised by the event’s promoters.

The PBOC official, quoted by Financial News (Jinrong Shibao), a news outlet run by the central bank, also noted that the firms and individuals behind the promotion are now under investigation.

China’s central bank responds to Solana event cancellation

The official cited in the Friday report said that Solana became a priority watch for the PBOC as it went around promoting its brand and buying high-profile advertising using its domestic partners.

The regulator explained the double rationale behind the disruption:

• Solana’s SOL token is a virtual currency
• The Solana network supports issuing and trading tokens such as Tether’s USDT.

The official explained that, based on those interpretations, marketing Solana violates Chinese law and constitutes illegal financial activity.

The PBOC official also cited deficiencies in customer identification and anti-money-laundering rules in the crypto sector, as well as the speculative trading risks the asset category invites.

The official noted that the central bank was not acting alone when it halted the Solana event in Shanghai, noting that it was joined by local financial regulators, public security, and market supervision authorities.

PBOC tells a different story from Solana’s explanation

The report by the PBOC-linked news outlet differs from the account given by Solana officials at the time of the Shanghai event’s cancellation.

Shanghai was supposed to be the first stop in the four-city Accelerate China developer tour. Hangzhou, Shenzhen and Beijing were the other Chinese cities the tour planned to visit.

As Cryptopolitan reported at the time, attendees received an email from the organizers on the morning of the event, October 16, informing them of a postponement over “logistical considerations at the venue.”

Solana Foundation President Lily Liu intimated that the cancellation was due to turnout, writing on X, “Due to the publicity, event registrations quadrupled overnight, far exceeding the event cap.”

While Liu did not mention the threat of enforcement in her post, attendees who were already at the Shangri-La hotel venue noticed law enforcement presence on-site.

The central bank’s report noted that Solana came onto its radar after an aggressive campaign in which Solana branding appeared across the Shanghai skyline. The Foundation also touted its Pudong office in the world’s tallest commercially available office.

This year’s cancellation was the second Solana event to be disrupted in mainland China, following a late October 2025 Solana Accelerate event in Shenzhen that was cut short by local police. Organizers cited overcrowding at the time too.

The February rulebook behind the crackdown

China has treated crypto business as off-limits for years. The PBOC and four other departments warned on Bitcoin risks in 2013, and a 2021 notice spelled out that Bitcoin, Ether and stablecoins like Tether hold no status as legal tender.

The current rulebook dates to February 2026, when the PBOC and seven other agencies issued a notice that restated the ban and added fresh ones, including a block on unauthorized yuan-pegged stablecoins, per the official text published by the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

The directive also made Chinese firms and individuals liable for knowingly assisting offshore operators that provide crypto services inside the country, even when the project runs abroad.

The PBOC said it would keep targeting domestic crypto traders and the local affiliates of offshore issuance and trading platforms, working with other agencies and local governments.

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