China’s Stablecoin Underground Hits $104 Billion Despite Beijing’s Crypto Ban - forkast.news

A new report from Forkast.news estimates that China's underground stablecoin market has reached roughly $104 billion in volume, even as Beijing maintains its broad ban on cryptocurrency trading and related services. The figure points to a persistent gap between formal prohibition and actual on-chain activity, with users apparently turning to dollar-pegged tokens to move value outside the regulated banking system.

For markets, the number matters less as a precise tally than as a signal. Stablecoins are primarily used for settlement and cross-border transfers rather than speculation, so sustained volume can indicate genuine demand for dollar-denominated liquidity where capital controls and crypto restrictions apply. That demand may influence offshore exchange flows, peer-to-peer pricing, and the premium or discount at which local participants access stablecoins.

What to watch: whether Chinese authorities tighten enforcement further, how major stablecoin issuers respond to scrutiny over indirect exposure, and whether similar underground patterns appear in other restricted markets. The episode also feeds the broader policy debate over how jurisdictions should regulate dollar-pegged tokens that operate partly beyond their reach.