PBOC Confirms Halt of Solana Shanghai Event, Opens Probe
The PBOC confirmed authorities stopped Solana's Shanghai event and will probe those involved. It cited Lujiazui advertising and a February 2026 notice from eight agencies. The Solana Foundation had blamed a registration surge.
Authorities stopped Solana's Shanghai event, Solana Accelerate China 2026, and will now investigate the companies and individuals behind it. China's central bank confirmed both on November 6. The Solana Foundation had publicly blamed the October disruption on a registration surge.
The disclosure comes from a People's Bank of China (PBOC) official in an exclusive interview with Financial News, a newspaper the central bank runs. The linked original is the primary record. One account describes the official as an unnamed department head. Other reports attribute the account to China's Financial Times rather than Financial News. The official did not identify specific entities or announce penalties.
Regulatory rationale
According to the official, Solana used a domestic company to run high-profile advertising for its brand and coin. The campaign included a display on the outside wall of Citigroup Tower in Lujiazui, Shanghai's financial district. The PBOC worked with local financial regulators, police and market supervision authorities to stop the event.
The official placed SOL within China's definition of virtual currency. The official also said Solana's infrastructure supports issuance and trading of other tokens, such as Tether's USDT, which counts as prohibited activity. Authorities consider promotion of Solana's brand a violation of a February 2026 notice issued jointly by the PBOC and seven other agencies.
A different account at the time
The Solana Foundation postponed the Shanghai morning session on October 16 after attendees reportedly found officers outside the venue and could not enter. The Foundation initially blamed venue logistics. In an October 16 post on X, President Lily Liu said registrations had quadrupled overnight.
"Due to the publicity, event registrations quadrupled overnight, far exceeded the event cap we had registered with local authorities"
Lily Liu, President of the Solana Foundation
The PBOC's statement now points to regulatory intervention rather than venue capacity. No replacement date for the Shanghai event has been announced. The Foundation had scheduled gatherings in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Shenzhen and Beijing between October 16 and 22.
Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao questioned whether the organizers understood local rules. He pointed to a similar disruption at a Solana event in Shenzhen less than a year earlier.
"Sad to see. Looks like they really didn't know the local policies?"
Changpeng Zhao
What it means for market participants
The probe's scope is unclear, since no entities were named and no penalties announced. The official did signal direction, however: regulators plan to intensify enforcement against domestic crypto dealers and local entities tied to overseas issuance and trading platforms.
China has restricted crypto since 2013. It tightened rules in 2021 and again in February 2026 through the eight-department joint notice. In October 2025, a Solana-themed event in Shenzhen was also disrupted. Police made inquiries, and organizers canceled the final hackathon presentation.
The official's framing treats brand promotion itself, not only trading, as a violation. That puts domestic partners who handle advertising or events for foreign blockchain projects within the scope of enforcement.
