Chinese authorities are building a judicial blueprint for court cases involving digital asset disputes, the latest measure to clarify the regulation of a sector that has faced tight controls, including a ban on domestic cryptocurrency trading since 2021.
China Readies Standard Legal Rules for Digital Asset Court Cases
28 May 2026 - 09:20 CEST
Research on rules
In a 27 May press briefing organized by the State Council Information Office, Liu Guixiang, a justice of the Supreme People's Court, said the court planned to conduct "in-depth research on the adjudication rules" for cases involving digital assets and cross-border finance.
His comments suggest that China is working to establish a top-down, binding legal framework to unify the enforcement of laws in disputes involving digital assets. Such a framework would help address disparate rulings by regional judges on digital property and financial fraud cases.
Shanghai court guidance
For example, the Shanghai High People's Court published guidelines in February on how courts should handle and enforce cases involving digital assets in legal disputes, providing lower courts with a blueprint for freezing and recovering them.
Regional courts have ruled that individuals may hold cryptocurrency as personal property, even though commercial activities involving the asset are prohibited in China.
Authorities tighten crypto framework
Beijing has unveiled a series of crypto-related policy announcements so far this year, including a joint notice, Circular No. 42, issued on 6 Feb by major regulators. The notice, which had the backing of agencies such as the People's Bank of China and the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), reiterated the ban on domestic cryptocurrency activities and the strict regulation of real-world asset (RWA) tokenization and yuan-based stablecoins.
In February, the Supreme People's Court also announced tougher legal scrutiny under the country's criminal laws for crypto-related financial fraud and illicit cross-border capital flows.
Increased financial cases
The comments at the briefing, themed "Starting the 15th five-year plan," come as the world's second-largest economy faces rising levels of financial and legal disputes. According to the Supreme People's Court's 2025 Work Report, Chinese courts processed more than 2.7mn financial cases last year, and a growing number involved digital assets.
Despite China’s ban on cryptocurrency trading, the country is estimated to have as many as 59mn crypto holders, with activity sometimes continuing through underground channels, according to research by the international law firm Han Kun Law Offices.
