China Targets Crypto Bribery as Investigators Trace Ethereum

China’s Communist Party is intensifying investigations into corruption involving cryptocurrency, blockchain and cross-border funds. The Yao Qian case shows how investigators connected Ethereum payments to concealed bank accounts and property purchases. Existing bribery and money-laundering laws provide a legal basis for prosecuting cryptocurrency-related corruption. A Beijing villa purchased through concealed financial arrangements illustrates why China’s Communist Party is placing cryptocurrency at the center of its latest anti-corruption campaign. In a Central Committee decision adopted on October 29 and published by Xinhua on November 1 , the party pledged to investigate corruption involving virtual currencies, blockchain technology and cross-border capital flows.