{"id":32967,"date":"2026-10-01T14:26:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T13:26:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/investx.fr\/en\/2026\/10\/01\/china-crypto-solana-ceo-predicts-regulation\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T14:26:21","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T13:26:21","slug":"china-crypto-solana-ceo-predicts-regulation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/investx.fr\/en\/crypto-news\/china-crypto-solana-ceo-predicts-regulation\/","title":{"rendered":"China and Crypto: Solana Co. CEO Predicts Inevitable Regulation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Will China ever reopen its doors to cryptocurrencies<\/strong>? That is the conviction of Joseph Chee<\/strong>, CEO of Solana Co.<\/strong>, expressed on the sidelines of Korea Blockchain Week<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His statement has reignited a debate the industry has been watching closely since the landmark 2017 ban<\/strong>. But the distance between a CEO’s forecast and actual state policy remains considerable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hong Kong<\/strong> plays a central role in this scenario: the city has been acting for several years as a regulatory testing ground for Beijing<\/strong>. Here is a closer look at what this really means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joseph Chee and China: A Prediction to Handle With Care<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At Korea Blockchain Week<\/strong>, Joseph Chee<\/strong> stated that China would find “a way to manage crypto”<\/strong>, with Hong Kong<\/strong> serving as the primary testing ground. His remarks, picked up by the Wall Street Journal<\/strong>, quickly circulated across the crypto community \u2014 but their real significance deserves a more measured reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chee<\/strong> leads Solana Co.<\/strong>, an entity tied to the Solana<\/a> ecosystem. His view carries industry relevance, particularly when expressed at a major blockchain<\/a> event in Asia. That said, a personal prediction from an executive is neither an official announcement from Solana nor a signal of Chinese public policy<\/strong>. The market would be wrong to treat it as an established catalyst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A quick reminder of the historical context: in 2017<\/strong>, Chinese authorities ordered the closure of domestic exchanges<\/strong> and banned token fundraising (ICOs)<\/strong>. Since then, the Ministry of State Security<\/strong> has hardened its stance further, most recently in late September 2026, describing anonymity in crypto<\/a> as a “false proposition”<\/strong> and an “illusion” exploited by foreign intelligence agencies. This context makes any anticipation of an opening premature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hong Kong: Regulatory Laboratory or Mere Showcase?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Hong<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hong Kong<\/strong> has a concrete regulatory framework in place for digital assets<\/strong>. The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC)<\/strong> has established a licensing regime for virtual asset trading platforms, and advanced work is underway on stablecoin<\/a> regulation. This is a fact: a jurisdiction under Chinese influence can create supervised channels for the crypto sector<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the extrapolation stops there. The existence of a framework in Hong Kong<\/strong> does not prove that Beijing<\/strong> is considering replicating that model on the mainland. Hong Kong’s rules do not imply open access to stablecoins<\/strong> or tokens on public chains like Solana<\/strong> for residents of mainland China. “One Country, Two Systems” remains an operational reality<\/strong> that keeps the two regulatory environments firmly separate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For traders looking to anticipate a price impact on SOL<\/strong>, the practical read is narrow: without concrete rules published by Beijing<\/strong>, and without evidence that the Solana<\/strong> network would be included in any potential mainland regulatory framework, pricing a “China opening” into the SOL price<\/a> would be pure speculation. Meme coin<\/a> activity on Solana<\/strong> or broader market sentiment are not indicators of genuine Chinese demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What the Industry Should Actually Be Watching<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The question of China<\/strong> and crypto<\/strong> is not going away. The country represents a colossal potential market, and global regulatory pressure \u2014 particularly in Europe with MiCA<\/strong> and in the United States with recent legislative developments \u2014 is pushing Asian players to sharpen their positions. South Korea<\/strong> itself is in the middle of an active debate on crypto market oversight, which explains why Korea Blockchain Week<\/strong> attracts so much institutional attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The signals worth monitoring for any potential shift in China’s stance are specific: public consultations from mainland financial regulators<\/strong>, formal legislative amendments<\/strong>, or an explicit extension of the Hong Kong framework to the mainland. In the absence of these elements, executive statements \u2014 however influential \u2014 remain opinions, not catalysts<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Solana<\/strong> ecosystem, meanwhile, continues to evolve independently of this scenario: DeFi<\/strong> adoption, staking<\/a> infrastructure, volumes on DEXs<\/strong> \u2014 these are the on-chain metrics that reflect the network’s genuine health, well beyond geopolitical speculation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Related articles :<\/h3>\n\n\n\n