China’s Digital Yuan Architect Accused of $8M Crypto Bribery Scheme
Yao Qian, the previous architect of China’s digital yuan, accepted crypto bribes price over $8 million whereas holding senior regulatory positions, Chinese state media revealed this week.
The case exposes how corrupt officers exploited the identical blockchain know-how Yao helped develop to hide illicit transactions by way of {hardware} wallets and nameless transfers.
State broadcaster CCTV aired particulars of Yao’s corruption scheme on January 14 in a documentary titled “Technology Empowering Anti-Corruption,” displaying how investigators traced 2,000 Ethereum (valued at 60 million yuan at peak costs) from a businessman to Yao’s private pockets in 2018.
The former director of the Digital Currency Research Institute on the People’s Bank of China used a number of shell accounts and blockchain addresses to cover bribes totaling not less than 22 million yuan ($3.1 million) in fiat foreign money alongside substantial crypto holdings.
Hardware Wallets Betrayed Corruption Trail
Investigators found three {hardware} wallets in Yao’s workplace drawer, every resembling odd USB gadgets however containing tens of millions of yuan in cryptocurrency.
“These three seemingly insignificant little wallets saved tens of tens of millions of yuan,” mentioned Zou Rong, a workers member with the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection stationed on the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
While Yao believed digital currencies supplied anonymity, blockchain’s transparency enabled investigators to reconstruct full transaction histories, linking bribes on to his wallets.
The investigation revealed that Yao bought a Beijing villa price over 20 million yuan utilizing funds traced to crypto exchanges, together with a single 10 million yuan cost transformed from digital property.
Authorities penetrated layers of shell accounts managed by kin and intermediaries, establishing clear proof that businessman Wang transferred 12 million yuan by way of an data companies firm in trade for regulatory favors.
“He believed that after establishing a number of layers, the system can be extra remoted,” mentioned Shi Changping of Shanwei City’s Discipline Inspection Commission, including that a number of events really strengthened the proof chain.
Yao’s authorized financial institution accounts confirmed no apparent irregularities, however cross-referencing with authorities databases uncovered accounts opened below different identities that he secretly managed.
These shell accounts acquired massive transfers that investigators traced again by way of 4 layers to crypto trade fund accounts, finally connecting to his property purchases and corrupt dealings with know-how service suppliers.
Subordinate Enabled Crypto Bribery Network
Jiang Guoqing, Yao’s longtime subordinate who adopted him from the People’s Bank to the securities regulator, served as the first middleman for crypto bribes.
“I arrange a switch deal with the place individuals would ship cash, then switch them to Yao Qian’s private pockets,” Jiang confessed, acknowledging he profited from facilitating power-for-money transactions.
In 2018, Jiang related businessman Zhang to Yao, who used his business affect to assist Zhang’s firm subject tokens and lift 20,000 Ethereum by way of a cryptocurrency trade, in trade for two,000 Ethereum.
“Yao Qian has nice affect within the business as a result of of his place,” Jiang informed investigators, explaining how regulatory authority translated into cryptocurrency market entry.
Beyond digital bribes, prosecutors documented that Yao accepted costly items, organized luxurious banquets, manipulated worker recruitment, and facilitated software program procurement offers with know-how suppliers whereas serving on the China Securities Regulatory Commission.
The investigation additionally revealed that Yao engaged in superstitious practices (a cultural taboo in Communist Party governance) and established ties with people described as “key coaching targets” for illicit actions.
Yao was expelled from the Communist Party in November 2024 and transferred for prison prosecution after investigators achieved “mutual corroboration and a closed loop of proof” by combining blockchain transaction data with conventional monetary forensics.
His case provided helpful expertise for Chinese authorities investigating digital foreign money corruption, with investigators emphasizing that “cryptocurrency is ineffective if it could actually’t be cashed out—when digital property finally change into actual property, their true nature is well uncovered.“
The villa Yao bought with transformed crypto remained unfinished when authorities detained him, serving because the bodily proof that uncovered his elaborate digital deception scheme spanning years of regulatory service.
Digital Yuan Pushes Forward Despite Setback
Yao’s downfall hasn’t derailed China’s central financial institution digital foreign money ambitions, with the People’s Bank of China suppose to have launched a new framework on January 1 that enables industrial banks to pay curiosity on digital yuan pockets balances.
China’s PBOC has rolled out digital yuan motion plan for the upcoming 12 months, to boost the CBDC’s administration and monetary infrastructure. #PBOC #DigitalYuan #ChinaCBDChttps://t.co/sKEBAfgcve
— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) December 29, 2025
The transfer addresses long-standing adoption challenges, because the e-CNY has processed 3.48 billion transactions price 16.7 trillion yuan by way of November 2025, however nonetheless trails far behind Alipay and WeChat Pay, which management over 90% of China’s cell funds market.
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