China insists on cracking down on Crypto Assets, while the United States starts approving various altcoin Spot ETFs?

In the last week of October 2025, a song of ice and fire unfolded in the global digital asset arena. While Wall Street opened its arms, welcoming a batch of “alts” Spot ETFs with unprecedented enthusiasm, the financial regulatory behemoth in the East issued yet another stern warning, reaffirming its tough stance against Crypto Assets. These two major economies, at the crossroads of digital finance, have chosen vastly different paths, reflecting strategic considerations and future visions that are profoundly influencing the landscape of the global Crypto Assets market.

US altcoin ETF

After the successful listing of the Bitcoin Spot ETF in early 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has once again opened the door to mainstream financial markets for Crypto Assets, and this time the main characters are the more diverse alts.

On October 28, Eastern Time, a landmark day, multiple highly anticipated alts Spot ETFs were officially approved for listing. Among them, the “Bitwise Solana Staking ETF (ticker BSOL)” launched by asset management company Bitwise debuted on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), becoming the first ETF in the U.S. to directly hold 100% of Solana (SOL) Spot. At the same time, the “Canary Litecoin ETF” and the “Canary HBAR ETF” issued by Canary Capital also made their appearance on Nasdaq. Following closely, the Solana Trust Fund under Grayscale, the world's largest digital asset management company, is also expected to complete its conversion to a Spot ETF the next day.

The significance of this series of events goes far beyond the launch of a few new financial products. It symbolizes a new height of recognition by U.S. regulators for alternative crypto assets (i.e., cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin). Institutions and ordinary investors no longer need to go through the complex account opening process of crypto exchanges; they can easily position themselves in mainstream alts like Solana and Litecoin in traditional brokerage accounts, just like buying and selling stocks.

More revolutionary is that the newly launched ETF introduces a “Staking Rewards” mechanism. Taking BSOL as an example, Bitwise clearly states that the fund aims to stake 100% of SOL assets on-chain to earn an average annual return of about 7%. This means that investors can not only share in the price fluctuations of the SOL token itself but also receive additional passive income. This one-stop solution of “buying coins, holding coins, and earning interest” sharply contrasts with the previously offered Bitcoin ETF that only provided price exposure, offering traditional investors a more attractive value proposition.

The market reacted enthusiastically to this. Kristin Smith, chair of the Solana Policy Institute, stated that the launch of BSOL “symbolizes the market's widespread recognition that Solana has become an important financial infrastructure for the future digital economy.” Steven McClurg, CEO of Canary Capital, also called it “a milestone moment for the crypto industry.” The industry generally believes that the successful listing of altcoin ETFs will significantly lower the threshold for institutional investment, attract a large influx of potential funds, and may spawn more derivative financial products based on these ETFs, further promoting the financialization process of crypto assets.

China reiterates a crackdown.

Just as the U.S. market cheers for crypto innovation, the speech by Pan Gongsheng, the governor of the People's Bank of China, at the Beijing Financial Street Forum Annual Conference, poured a bucket of cold water on the domestic crypto market. His remarks clearly conveyed one message: China's strict regulatory policy on Crypto Assets has not loosened, and will continue to be upheld.

Pan Gongsheng reiterated that the various policy measures introduced since 2017 to address the risks of virtual currency “are still in effect today.” He emphasized that the People's Bank will continue to work with law enforcement agencies to “severely crack down on domestic virtual currency operations and speculation” in order to maintain the country's economic and financial order.

In this speech, stablecoins were specifically mentioned. Pan Gongsheng pointed out that despite the continuous emergence of stablecoins pegged to fiat currencies, they “are still largely in the early stages of development” and cannot meet basic financial regulatory requirements such as customer identity verification (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML). He expressed concern that the anonymity of these stablecoins could exacerbate loopholes in global financial regulation, fostering a “speculative market atmosphere,” increasing the vulnerability of the global financial system, and even “eroding the monetary sovereignty of some underdeveloped economies.”

This position indicates that Chinese regulators regard any decentralized digital currency that is not under their control, particularly stablecoins that may challenge the status of the Renminbi, as potential financial risks and threats.

While blocking private Crypto Assets, China is fully laying out its official digital highway - the digital renminbi (e-CNY). In Pan Gongsheng's speech, a considerable portion elaborated on the grand blueprint for promoting the development of digital renminbi.

He stated that the People's Bank of China will further optimize the management system of the digital renminbi and support more commercial banks to participate in its operation. To systematically promote its development, China has established the “Digital Renminbi International Operation Center” in Shanghai, specifically responsible for cross-border cooperation; at the same time, the “Digital Renminbi Operation Management Center” has been set up in Beijing, responsible for system construction and maintenance. Since the pilot program began in 2019, the cumulative transaction amount of the digital renminbi has exceeded 14 trillion yuan.

The crackdown on Crypto Assets and the promotion of the digital renminbi are two sides of the same coin. China's strategy is to replace the chaotic, decentralized world of alts with a state-controlled, fully transparent, and efficient digital payment system. The digital renminbi not only helps to enhance payment efficiency but, more importantly, allows the central bank to maintain complete control over capital flows, strengthen the transmission efficiency of monetary policy, and consolidate the country's financial sovereignty in the digital age.

The two paths of China and the United States

The divergence between the United States and China on the issue of Crypto Assets is rooted in the fundamentally different financial philosophies and national strategies of the two countries.

The strategy of the United States is “regulation and integration.” By incorporating encryption assets into existing, mature regulatory frameworks (such as ETFs), the United States embraces financial innovation while also providing protection for investors. This move not only consolidates Wall Street's position as a global financial center but also cleverly extends the influence of the dollar into the digital asset world through the use of dollar stablecoins and related financial products, achieving a soft expansion of “digital dollar hegemony.”

China's strategy is “replacement and control.” Due to deep concerns about financial stability, capital outflow, and currency sovereignty, China has chosen to build a “financial Great Wall” to isolate uncontrolled crypto assets and has focused on creating the digital yuan as a controllable alternative. This is a top-down, state-led digital path, prioritizing order, stability, and control.

Overall, one towards the left and one towards the right. The United States is trying to become a global compliance harbor and innovation center for Crypto Assets, while China is committed to building an independent digital currency system. The competition and interaction between these two models will define the landscape of global digital finance in the coming years. How will global capital flow? Which model is better suited to meet future challenges? This century-long game concerning technology, finance, and power has just begun. For all those involved, this is both a challenge filled with uncertainty and an unprecedented historical opportunity.