China’s Alleged Ban on Holding Crypto: Fact or Hoax?

Today, several media outlets, following India’s Financial Express, reported that the Chinese government has allegedly extended its long-standing ban on crypto transactions to include a ban on holding cryptocurrency altogether for Chinese residents.

There doesn’t seem to be any concrete proof, so it’s probably just a hoax. Still, I’ve been half-expecting that some country would eventually take this absurd step. After all, if mere holding of crypto becomes illegal, then what’s to stop a mischief-maker from emailing private keys to legislators’ official addresses, effectively “gifting” them a tiny fraction of some cryptocurrency (less than dust level, making it impossible to get rid of)? Imagine the lawmakers then trying to prove they don’t actually hold that crypto! Possession of the private key on an official email address is pretty solid evidence of holding, wouldn’t you agree?

Do any Chinese clients of the rabbit.io crypto exchanger see this news circulating? If so, can you confirm or deny whether this supposed new ban is real?

(The attached table is not a call for any mischievous pranks.)