PBOC Targets Domestic Crypto Traders, Local Affiliates of Offshore Exchanges

The shift in emphasis toward onshore affiliates of offshore platforms is the operative detail: it targets the connective tissue between domestic traders and venues China has already banned, rather than the venues themselves. That puts intermediaries and local service providers closest to the enforcement line, while offshore exchanges face pressure through their China-facing channels rather than directly. The PBOC's stated rationale — failure on customer identification and AML — frames this as a financial-integrity action, not a market call. Whether the focus on affiliates produces measurable friction in onshore access to offshore liquidity is the open question.