China excludes Bitcoin from national blockchain network plan, reinforces crypto ban
China’s ruling Communist Party has called for construction of a national blockchain network as part of its economic strategy, but the October 9 policy document explicitly excludes cryptocurrencies and reinforces Beijing’s ban on crypto trading. For institutional investors betting on Chinese regulatory thaw or BSN integration with public blockchains, the absence of any pathway to Bitcoin or decentralized finance signals continued state isolation of digital assets.
- Communist Party and State Council issued blockchain network directive on October 9 as part of 19-point economic plan.
- Policy document contains no mention of Bitcoin, cryptocurrency, or any pathway to decentralize the planned network.
- China already operates state-backed Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN) since April 2020; new plan does not clarify relationship.
- October 9 Date Communist Party issued blockchain network policy as part of economic strategy
- April 2020 Launch date of existing state-backed Blockchain-based Service Network infrastructure
- 19 Total economic measures in policy document including blockchain network provision
China’s Communist Party Central Committee and State Council issued an economic policy on October 9 that explicitly calls for development of a national blockchain network, but the document offers no support for Bitcoin or any independent cryptocurrency. First reported by BeInCrypto, the directive was published the same day by state news agency Xinhua and sits alongside measures for nationwide computing infrastructure and data sovereignty rules. The blockchain provision appears in a section on merging traditional industry with digital technology, the language and placement suggesting the network is intended as enterprise and government infrastructure, not as a platform for decentralized finance or public blockchains.
New Policy Reinforces Bitcoin Ban While Backing State Blockchain
Crypto trading has been illegal in mainland China since a coordinated ban by the People’s Bank of China and seven other regulators in February.
The October 9 economic blueprint does not reverse or soften that prohibition; instead, it frames blockchain technology as a tool for state-directed economic coordination, aligned with Beijing’s push to develop the digital yuan, China’s central bank digital currency.
The policy hands implementation to the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission and the National Development and Reform Commission, bodies that will determine what assets, if any, the national network will support and whether it builds atop the existing Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN), a permissioned infrastructure launched in April 2020. The BSN is governed by the State Information Center and operated in partnership with state-owned entities including China Mobile and China UnionPay; its charter explicitly bars independent cryptocurrencies. No mention in the new directive clarifies whether the national network will adopt BSN’s permissioned model or establish its own architecture.
Beijing’s Blockchain Strategy Mirrors Digital Yuan Timeline, Not Crypto Integration
The August PBOC five-year plan, issued weeks before this economic directive, pledged to “steadily develop” the digital yuan, framing state-issued digital currency as the centerpiece of Beijing’s monetary innovation strategy.
The October policy, by omitting cryptocurrency entirely while emphasizing blockchain infrastructure, reinforces the separation: Beijing is building blockchain to support government and enterprise data sharing, not to legitimize decentralized assets.
This divergence matters for institutions holding Chinese exposure or betting on regulatory convergence. Solana CEO Joseph Chee told CNBC that Beijing’s willingness to permit crypto trading would trigger a “super cycle” in digital assets, citing capital flight as the deeper obstacle.
Yet the October 9 document offers no signal of movement on either front, no timeline, no pilot program, no hedge language suggesting future reconsideration. Instead, the policy locks blockchain and cryptocurrency into separate tracks: one state-controlled and intentionally isolated, the other prohibited outright.
The CCS read. We read the absence as permanence. The October 9 blueprint is not a trial balloon or incremental step; it is China’s formal answer to the question of whether state blockchain infrastructure will ever bridge to Bitcoin or Ethereum. The answer remains no. Institutions should model Chinese crypto exposure as indefinitely constrained to offshore venues and ceased treating regulatory thaw as a tail risk worth hedging.
Watch for the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission’s implementation rules, expected in the next 90 days, to clarify whether the new national blockchain will interoperate with existing BSN nodes or build separate infrastructure, a choice that will determine whether overseas institutions can access the network at all and whether the policy signals potential future integration with international public blockchains.
