Chainalysis reports 43-fold surge in China’s P2P stablecoin wallets

China restricts crypto. Chinese users keep sending stablecoins to each other anyway, and in growing numbers. According to the Chainalysis East Asia Crypto Adoption Report, released on October 5, 2026, the number of unique wallets sending peer-to-peer stablecoin transactions in China grew 43-fold between Q1 2024 and Q2 2026. The numbers behind the surge Chainalysis found that $104.1 billion moved through approximately 18.1 million self-custodied stablecoin transfers from July 2025 to June 2026. Self-custodied means users held their own keys, with no exchange sitting in the middle. Stablecoin turnover in China reached an annualized rate of 33.2 times, according to the report. The global average sits at 9.3 times. Chainalysis reads that pattern as a sign stablecoins are increasingly functioning as working capital. These coins are not parked as savings. They are being spent, settled and passed along. Domestic P2P activity now accounts for 59.1% of China’s estimated crypto economy, which the report puts at at least $176 billion. That share represents a 3.5-fold increase compared to previous periods. Growth during a crackdown In February 2026, Chinese authorities reinforced restrictions ...