Joseph Chee, Executive Chairman of Solana Co., told an audience at Korea Blockchain Week that China will eventually find a way to regulate or manage digital assets rather than sustain its current prohibition indefinitely.

Chee's case rests on an observation about persistence. Investors, academics and developers in China have continued engaging with crypto even under one of the world's strictest regulatory regimes. His argument: management, not prohibition, may become Beijing's more practical path.

He was explicit that this will be gradual. China may allow more crypto activity over time while maintaining firm oversight, according to his remarks. No immediate policy shift is implied.

One clarification is essential to framing the comments correctly. Solana Co. is a treasury company focused on acquiring the SOL token. It is a separate entity from the Solana Foundation, the organization associated with the Solana blockchain. Chee therefore speaks as an executive with a direct financial stake in SOL, and his optimism about future Chinese demand aligns with his company's interests.

Beijing's caution has not been arbitrary. Its stated concerns center on speculation and fraud, alongside capital flight and broader financial instability.

The regulatory record

China banned initial coin offerings and crypto-based fundraising in 2017. In 2021, it widened the campaign, declaring crypto transactions illegal and restricting mining. Those bans on domestic trading, mining and related activity remain in force on the mainland today.

Hong Kong has taken a different route. In 2023, the city introduced a licensing regime allowing approved platforms to serve retail crypto investors. That has positioned Hong Kong as a testing ground for policies Beijing might one day consider more broadly.

This is the context for what industry figures, including Chee, have described as a potential dual-track system: strict mainland rules running alongside a licensed, more flexible environment in Hong Kong. Proponents argue the split could offer a workable model for supervised digital asset management.

The developer signal

Chee's remarks landed alongside a growing wave of events targeting Chinese-speaking developers. In October 2025, Solana Accelerate APAC took place in Shenzhen and drew enough attendees to attract minor police scrutiny over venue overcapacity.

More events are scheduled for October 2026 in major Chinese cities, covering a range of technology themes. The format matters: these meetups focus on building and technical education rather than trading, giving them a different profile from the activity China has outlawed.

For blockchain ecosystems, the developer race is already underway. Solana's push into Chinese cities suggests some projects want relationships in place before any policy shift materializes.

Direction, not timing

The takeaway from Chee's forecast concerns direction rather than timing. He describes a slow drift toward managed crypto activity and acknowledges it will take years, not months.

Hong Kong is the clearest indicator to watch. If its licensed retail market continues operating without major failures, it strengthens the argument that crypto can be supervised rather than banned outright.

The risks remain concrete. The 2017 and 2021 bans are still law on the mainland, and even overcrowded developer events have drawn police attention. And the source of the forecast itself warrants skepticism: a SOL treasury company has obvious incentives to expect Chinese demand to find an eventual outlet.

What makes the argument difficult to dismiss is the pattern. China attempted to remove crypto from its financial system, yet interest persisted — from investors and academics to developers packing rooms in Shenzhen. Whether Beijing responds with structured management or continued prohibition will shape one of the largest untapped pools of digital asset demand, and Hong Kong's licensed market offers the first observable test case.