On February 6, 2026, eight Chinese regulatory bodies, including the People’s Bank of China and the China Securities Regulatory Commission, jointly issued the “Notice on Further Preventing and Disposing of Risks Related to Virtual Currency” (referred to as the 2.6 Notice). This move has generated significant concern within the industry, underscoring the sustained regulatory pressure on virtual asset activities. The notice represents a continuation of recent regulatory efforts. These include a coordination meeting led by the PBOC in November 2025 to combat virtual currency trading speculation, and a joint risk warning issued by seven industry associations in December 2025. The rapid succession of multi-departmental actions signals a process of refining and implementing stricter regulatory measures. Analyzing the practical implications, the notice poses elevated legal risks for three primary groups within China: 1. **Domestic Remote Workers for Web3 Entities:** This includes individuals providing technical, operational, marketing, or support services for overseas virtual currency exchanges, Web3 projects, wallet services, or on-chain tool providers while residing in China. Key roles such as business development, marketing, community management, listing managers, product managers, and technical staff could face liability. The 2.6 Notice stipulates that individuals within China who knowingly assist overseas entities in illegally providing virtual currency services to the domestic market may be held legally accountable. 2. **Virtual Currency Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) and Community Organizers:** Influencers and promoters operating on platforms like Xiaohongshu, Bilibili, Douyin, X (Twitter), and Telegram, who engage in activities such as trading signal recommendations, market analysis, and promotional content for exchanges or projects, are at risk. Their common monetization methods—including transaction fee rebates, user referral rewards, and fixed promotional fees—may be classified as providing prohibited information intermediation, pricing references, or marketing services for virtual currency transactions. 3. **Over-The-Counter (OTC) Traders (USDT Merchants):** The notice highlights that stablecoins are seen as partially fulfilling functions of fiat currency. This raises the prospect of judicial authorities treating OTC trading of stablecoins like USDT as “de facto foreign exchange trading.” A referenced case from Dabu Court, later highlighted by the Guangdong High Court, set a precedent where OTC trading for profit was convicted as the crime of illegal business operation for circumventing foreign exchange regulations. This indicates a potential expansion of criminal liability for OTC activities. In conclusion, the consecutive regulatory directives clearly communicate an intensifying crackdown on virtual currency-related activities. Domestic participants in the Web3 ecosystem, including remote workers, influencers, and OTC traders, are advised to critically reassess the significantly heightened legal and criminal risks associated with their operations under the current regulatory framework.