In China, a Cat-and-Mouse Game to Rein In Crypto

Three years ago, China’s government imposed sweeping restrictions on trading cryptocurrencies. But that hasn’t stopped brokers, including Chen Xin, from helping people convert large amounts of Chinese yuan into crypto. 

Working as a middleman in China’s underground financial system, Chen would routinely accept more than $100,000 in cash and then swap it for the cryptocurrency tether using overseas trading platforms. He knew not to ask too many questions about where the cash came from—but he assumed a lot of it wasn’t clean.