Beijing has reaffirmed its tough stance on virtual currencies, warning of a resurgence in speculative trading and vowing to stamp out “illegal activities” involving stablecoins.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) held a coordination meeting on virtual currency regulation on Friday with a coalition of top regulatory and law enforcement agencies, according to a statement released by the central bank on Saturday.

“Business activities related to virtual currencies constitute illegal financial activities,” the statement said.

“Stablecoins are a form of virtual currency, and currently cannot effectively meet requirements for customer identification and anti-money-laundering,” it added, warning that they posed risks of being exploited for illegal purposes such as fundraising fraud and unauthorised cross-border fund transfers.

The meeting included officials from 12 other departments, including the Ministry of Public Security, Central Financial Commission, Ministry of Justice and the China Securities Regulatory Commission. It noted that speculative activities in virtual currencies had recently resurfaced.

According to the PBOC statement, the authorities emphasised that these currencies did not have the same legal status as fiat currency and “should not and cannot” be used in market circulation, while vowing to quash related illicit activities.

Despite a blanket ban on the sector since 2021, bitcoin mining in the world’s second largest economy has seen an uptick this year, according to industry data, as miners exploit China’s abundant energy supply.