Chainalysis’s new report estimated that China’s crypto economy is worth at least $176 billion. Domestic P2P activity accounted for 59.1% of the total, 3.5 times its share in the 2025 reporting period.
The growth comes despite China’s longstanding restrictions on crypto trading, which authorities reinforced in February with new rules targeting unauthorized yuan-pegged stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets.
East Asian markets take different crypto paths
China’s P2P-heavy market contrasts with South Korea, which Chainalysis ranked as East Asia’s largest crypto economy at $449.1 billion. Activity grew 12.3% from the previous period, with retail traders showing a strong preference for AI-linked tokens.
Hong Kong stood out for institutional activity. Chainalysis said institutional platforms accounted for 16% of service inflows, nearly three times the share in any regional neighbor. The city received almost $24 billion in inbound business-to-business flows. Hong Kong issued its first stablecoin licenses in April.
In Japan, decentralized exchanges (DEXs) accounted for nearly 35% of service activity, the highest share among mature East Asian markets. Chainalysis said 65.7% of DEX swaps were between $10 and $1,000, and DEX activity had risen more than 200% since 2022.
Japanese lawmakers passed revisions in July that bring digital assets under the country’s financial-markets framework.
