July 01, 2025
By Anjali Kochhar
Despite China’s iron-fisted crackdown on cryptocurrency trading and mining, the country’s insatiable appetite for digital assets hasn’t disappeared it’s just shifted. Unable to legally own Bitcoin or trade on crypto exchanges, Chinese investors are flooding into crypto-related stocks as the next best thing, sparking unexpected momentum in companies far beyond China’s borders.
Among the biggest beneficiaries is MicroStrategy, the U.S. software firm better known today for its massive Bitcoin holdings than its core business. With over 200,000 BTC on its balance sheet, MicroStrategy’s stock effectively mirrors Bitcoin’s price movements. For Chinese investors desperate for crypto exposure without touching tokens directly, it’s become a wildly popular proxy.
Another favoured pick is Coinbase, the largest regulated U.S. crypto exchange. Shares of Coinbase offer indirect access to the trading volumes and overall health of the global crypto market. As Bitcoin and other digital assets heat up, Coinbase’s revenue potential grows and investors know it.
Meanwhile, tech powerhouses like NVIDIA and AMD are also reaping rewards from China’s redirected demand. These companies manufacture the high-performance GPUs essential for crypto mining and AI workloads. As global mining and AI infrastructure expand, their stocks attract investors looking to ride the twin booms of artificial intelligence and digital currency all without directly breaching China’s crypto laws.
Hong Kong-based brokers report a clear uptick in Chinese clients ordering U.S.-listed crypto-related equities, highlighting how pent-up demand is seeping into traditional equity markets. Despite Beijing’s best efforts to ban crypto, the market’s hunger for digital assets is proving impossible to kill it’s just taking new, more creative forms.
This trend underscores a simple truth: financial innovation always finds a way. When one channel is blocked, capital flows elsewhere. Chinese investors are proving remarkably resourceful, using the stock market to keep their crypto ambitions alive.
As China’s crypto restrictions persist, this stealth demand could continue to fuel outsized moves in these stocks and perhaps even give them an unexpected edge over traditional crypto assets. The message is clear: the demand for crypto exposure is alive, strong, and more determined than ever.
About the author
Anjali Kochhar covers cryptocurrency and blockchain stories in India as well as globally. Having been in the field of media and journalism for over four years now, she has developed a sharp news sense and works hard to present information that goes beyond the obvious. She is an avid reader and loves writing on a wide range of subjects.
