Beijing wants would-be foreign spies to know it is watching the blockchain. China’s Ministry of State Security put out an article on social media calling cryptocurrencies “accomplices” in espionage, the South China Morning Post reported.
The ministry tied crypto to money laundering and cyberattacks as well. It said “overseas anti-China hostile forces” often use digital currencies to disrupt the financial order and harm national security.
A message aimed at recruits
The sharpest line was about recruitment. According to the ministry, overseas intelligence agencies try to calm the nerves of people they are courting as spies by claiming that the movement of virtual currencies is hard to verify. The ministry’s answer was that crypto transactions are not really anonymous.
Cointelegraph read the statement as a coded warning to anyone who thinks they can send or receive payments without the authorities noticing. Its assessment was mixed. The point holds for most coins, Bitcoin and Ethereum among them, but Monero and Zcash are fully private when used correctly.
Years of bans
None of this is a change of policy. China banned crypto several times before a comprehensive ban on exchanges in 2017, followed by a ban on mining in 2021, and it has declared all crypto businesses illegal. What has changed is the tone. The ministry has toughened its rhetoric, and it is now speaking directly to the people it fears foreign agencies may be recruiting.
For traders across Asia the practical effect is small, since mainland activity is already outlawed. For anyone tempted to take payment in tokens from a foreign contact, Beijing says the ledger is a record that investigators can read.
