China's central bank has launched an investigation into Solana following the shutdown of an "illegal" promotional event in Shanghai last month, according to a report by China's Financial Times.
An official from the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said the bank has halted further in-person Solana promotional events in the country. The PBOC, along with various local regulatory bodies, will also investigate Solana and any relevant persons.
The report noted that Solana's activities as a virtual currency provider are illegal under China's 2021 crypto laws, and that its promotions would also violate these same provisions.
Solana cancelled China event at the last minute
Last October, Solana attempted to organise a week-long Shanghai promotional event to celebrate the firm's apparent acquisition of an office in Shanghai's Pudong district.
Solana cancelled its "Solana Accelerate China" at the last minute due to "logistical considerations," while visitors spotted Chinese police arriving at the event.
In the days before the cancellation, a massive Solana logo was projected onto the side of Shanghai's Citigroup Tower and a Solana event was hosted on a riverboat.
At the time, Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao said it was "amazing to see that Solana was able to advertise and even get an office in China," before noting that Binance hasn't been able to pull this off.
China's crypto stance
China's government has been crypto-averse since 2013, when it introduced anti-BTC legislation. Then, in 2021, it introduced a further crackdown that deemed it illegal to use crypto in the country.
This year's most recent legislation still maintains that crypto is illegal but added a new provision that forbids offshore Chinese entities and individuals from providing crypto services to Chinese individuals. New restrictions on stablecoins and real-world asset tokenization were also introduced.
The price of Solana is $90 at the time of writing, down 15% since the promotional event was shut down on October 16.
