In March #稳定币监管风暴 2025, the Shanghai Pudong Court ruled on a case. A group of people set up 17 shell companies with no actual business. Over the past few years, they used USDT to conduct 6.5 billion yuan worth of illegal foreign exchange transactions.

Their methods were quite discreet: people in China wanting to exchange foreign currency would transfer renminbi to a designated domestic account, while their accomplices abroad would simultaneously transfer the equivalent amount of foreign currency to the person's overseas account. The entire process resembled 'matched trading', with money not actually crossing national borders.

The fees they charged were quite high, ranging from 1% to 3%, which was dozens of times more expensive than formal bank channels. For instance, in the case of exchanging 500,000 US dollars, they could earn between 36,000 to 108,000 renminbi. Because they could make such a large amount of money, this kind of activity often occurs nationwide. For example, there was a case in Chongqing involving a fund flow of 14 billion yuan, with personal profits reaching 4.77 million yuan.

After the exposure of this 6.5 billion yuan major case in Shanghai, it is evident that our country aims to use the power of law to prevent the illegal flow of stablecoins. An important lesson learned is to look beyond the surface and directly trace the true flow of money, as well as to clear out shell companies.

However, whether these practices in our country can become internationally accepted standards remains uncertain.