USDT → CNY

How much is 1 USDT in Chinese yuan: a price reference, and the legal and card-freeze risks in mainland China

The yuan price here is a reference only. There is no buying guide and no encouragement to trade, because exchanging yuan for USDT is prohibited in mainland China. In September 2021 the People's Bank of China and nine other departments issued the Notice on Further Preventing and Disposing of the Risks of Virtual Currency Trading and Speculation (Yinfa [2021] No. 237). It classed virtual-currency business activities as illegal financial activity, said the same applies to overseas exchanges serving mainland residents over the internet, and stated that where an investment in virtual currency violates public order and good morals, the related civil acts are invalid and the investor bears any loss.

On 6 February 2026 the People's Bank of China and seven other departments issued a new notice on virtual-currency risks (Yinfa [2026] No. 42), which repealed the 2021 notice without softening it. It names Tether (USDT) as a virtual currency with no legal status equal to legal tender, keeps fiat-to-crypto exchange in the mainland strictly prohibited, bars overseas entities and individuals from illegally providing virtual-currency services to mainland users in any form, keeps losses with the investor, and forbids banks and payment institutions from opening accounts, moving funds or settling payments for such business.

The yuan P2P price usually sits close to the dollar rate, and lately slightly below it. There is no official explanation. A cautious reading is that the mainland has no legal channel to convert USDT to yuan at the bank rate, so nothing pulls the price back when it drifts. When more people want to turn USDT into yuan than want to buy, quotes settle under the reference. The legal and card-freeze risks of trading may also make buyers unwilling to pay the full rate.

The most concrete risk is a frozen bank card. Fraud gangs often tell victims to pay a USDT seller directly, so the seller's account receives scam money. In a case published by the Supreme People's Procuratorate, a man selling USDT received transfers from fraud victims in several provinces and had his cards judicially frozen; because he kept trading after the freezes, prosecutors treated that as proof he knew, and he was convicted of aiding criminal use of information networks. Hong Kong is different: since June 2023 its Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has licensed virtual asset trading platforms. See the HKD page.