Rich by Coin

On February 6, 2026, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), and six other ministries jointly issued the Notice on Further Preventing and Disposing of Risks Related to Virtual Currencies and Similar Activities (Yin Fa 2026 №42, the “Notice”). On the same day, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) released the accompanying Regulatory Guidelines on the Offshore Issuance of Asset-Backed Securities Tokens Using Onshore Assets (the “Guidelines”). So what is new in the ‘one Notice, one Guideline, and one press Q&A’ released on February 6? The measures include a ban on RMB-denominated stablecoins, a prohibition on onshore Real-World Asset (RWA) tokenization, and a requirement that offshore RWA issuance be conducted with rigorous standards.

Onshore assets with compliance issues cannot be used, and issuers with regulatory deficiencies are not permitted. Under the principle of responsibility to global investors, only high-quality onshore assets may be tokenized offshore, with regulatory endorsement from the CSRC. Issuers are required to file with the CSRC, submitting filing reports, complete sets of offshore issuance documentation, and detailed disclosures covering the onshore filing entity, underlying assets, and token issuance structure. The CSRC’s 2026 №1 regulatory guidance provides relatively detailed instructions on how this is to be done.

Historically, China has maintained a high-pressure, near-total prohibition on blockchain and cryptocurrency activities with financial attributes. This outcome is consistent with prior expectations: as a highly controlled currency, the RMB is not considered suitable for experimentation with non-sovereign, uncontrolled stablecoin structures, given that policymakers view the uncertainties as far outweighing the potential benefits. The first compliant offshore RWA issuance involving onshore assets is almost certainly reserved for major institutional players. That said, if RWA tokenization can achieve lower compliance costs and greater capital-raising efficiency than traditional asset securitization, the crypto industry may yet make a meaningful contribution to China’s broader economic development.