The number of unique wallets sending peer-to-peer (P2P) stablecoin transactions in China — direct user-to-user transfers — grew 43-fold between the first quarter of 2024 and the second quarter of 2026, according to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, even as the country maintains its longstanding restrictions on crypto trading.

During its 2026 reporting period, which ran from July 2025 to June 2026, Chainalysis recorded $104.1 billion across 18.1 million transfers involving China's self-custodied stablecoin holdings. Self-custodied holdings are digital assets kept in wallets controlled by users rather than on centralized exchanges.

Stablecoin in China turned over 33.2 times per year — changing hands roughly every 11 days on average — more than three times the global average of 9.3, a pattern the firm said was consistent with users treating the tokens as working capital.

Chainalysis's new report estimated that China's crypto economy is worth at least $176 billion. Domestic P2P activity accounted for 59.1% of the total, 3.5 times its share in the 2025 reporting period.

Authorities reinforced the trading restrictions in February with new rules targeting unauthorized yuan-pegged stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets.

East Asian markets take different crypto paths

China's P2P-heavy market contrasts with South Korea, which Chainalysis ranked as East Asia's largest crypto economy at $449.1 billion. Activity there grew 12.3% from the previous period, with retail traders showing a strong preference for AI-linked tokens.

Hong Kong stood out for institutional activity. Chainalysis said institutional platforms accounted for 16% of service inflows, nearly three times the share of any regional neighbor, and the city received almost $24 billion in inbound business-to-business flows. Hong Kong issued its first stablecoin licenses in April.

In Japan, decentralized exchanges (DEXs) accounted for nearly 35% of service activity, the highest share among mature East Asian markets. Chainalysis said 65.7% of DEX swaps were between $10 and $1,000, and DEX activity had risen more than 200% since 2022. Japanese lawmakers passed revisions in July that bring digital assets under the country's financial-markets framework.

Despite those differences, Jordan Wain, policy advisory lead at Chainalysis, told Cointelegraph that some of the region's regulatory and business models are expected to become more alike. The institutional layer is likely to converge as markets progress through their regulatory journeys, while retail markets could remain more distinct.

"We expect the institutional layer to look increasingly alike from one market to the next," Wain said. "Broad agreement on the what, very different readings of the how, and what a retail consumer can actually buy is nothing like the same from one market to the next."