China's central bank halts Solana's Accelerate China events and opens a probe into its advertising in Shanghai's Lujiazui financial district

China's central bank has suspended a series of Solana events, stopping the Shanghai gathering before it could open, and says it will investigate who arranged the network's advertising in Shanghai. An official from a People's Bank of China department told the state-backed Financial News that the PBOC, working with local financial regulators, public security and market supervision authorities, suspended the offline "Solana Accelerate China 2026" gatherings in Shanghai and other locations, Wu Blockchain and TokenPost report; Cointelegraph, citing the Financial News, reported the Shanghai halt.

According to the official, Solana used domestic entities in Lujiazui, Shanghai's main financial district, to advertise virtual currencies while presenting the ads as brand promotion. The official described Solana as providing technical services for issuing and trading crypto, which Chinese rules treat as illegal financial activity, and cited a February 2026 notice from the PBOC and other agencies that tightened the country's crypto restrictions.

The Shanghai event had already been postponed once. In October, Solana Foundation president Lily Liu said organizers delayed it to "comply with local requirements" after registrations unexpectedly quadrupled, exceeding the cap filed with local authorities. Cointelegraph's report carried no response from the foundation to the latest halt.

The PBOC says future enforcement will focus on crypto traders in mainland China and on domestic affiliates of overseas issuance and trading platforms.