‘Accomplices’ in espionage: Beijing’s stance on cryptocurrencies hardens

China’s top intelligence and security agency on Monday issued a stark new warning on the risks of cryptocurrencies, highlighting their role in crime and stressing that transactions are not anonymous.

Here are three things to know about the fresh warning from the Ministry of State Security (MSS) and China’s latest stance on virtual assets.

What did the ministry say about cryptocurrencies?

Virtual currencies facilitated money laundering activities and cyberattacks, and served as “accomplices” in espionage, the agency said in an article published on its social media account. Overseas intelligence agencies would try to dispel the concerns of people they were trying to recruit as spies by claiming that the circulation of virtual currencies was hard to verify, according to the Ministry.

The MSS described the anonymity of crypto transactions as a “false proposition” and an “illusion”, saying that blockchains could fully retain transaction records and that exchanges between crypto and fiat currencies, as well as other payment interfaces, made real identities hard to hide.

Crypto was often used by “overseas anti-China hostile forces” for activities that disrupted financial order and harmed national security, it said, adding that crypto businesses were illegal in China.