People's Bank of China convened a meeting of the working coordination mechanism to combat virtual currency trading and speculation.

The People's Bank of China held a meeting of the coordination mechanism for cracking down on virtual currency trading and speculation. The meeting pointed out that, due to various recent factors, speculation in virtual currencies has resurged, with related criminal activities occurring from time to time, posing new situations and challenges for risk prevention and control.

The meeting emphasized that virtual currencies do not have the same legal status as fiat currency, are not legally recognized as tender, and should not and cannot be used as money in market circulation. Activities related to virtual currencies constitute illegal financial activities. Stablecoins are a form of virtual currency; currently, they fail to effectively meet requirements for customer identification, anti-money laundering (AML), and other aspects, carrying risks of being used for illegal activities such as money laundering, fundraising fraud, and unauthorized cross-border fund transfers.

The meeting called for maintaining the existing prohibitive policy toward virtual currencies and continuing to crack down on illegal financial activities involving virtual currencies. All relevant agencies must deepen coordination and cooperation, improve regulatory policies and legal foundations, focus on key links such as information flows and capital flows, strengthen information sharing, further enhance monitoring capabilities, severely punish criminal activities, protect the property safety of the public, and safeguard the stability of economic and financial order.

Responsible officials from the Ministry of Public Security, the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Central Financial Commission Office, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Justice, the People's Bank of China, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the National Financial Regulatory Administration, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange attended the meeting.

[ChainCatcher]