How Chinese corruption busters are tracking down bribes paid in cryptocurrency

Beijing has revealed how its graft-busters are investigating bribes paid in hard-to-trace cryptocurrencies by tracking the ways in which corrupt officials have been spending the proceeds.

Investigators became suspicious when Yao bought a villa in Beijing for more than 20 million yuan (around US$2.9 million) under the name of a family member.

They later concluded that he had been given 2,000 ether coins by the director of an unnamed digital currency firm he had helped to list on an exchange and had cashed in 370 of these digital tokens for 10 million yuan in 2021 – when the currency’s value peaked.

Investigators from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) also found that he had been given a cash bribe of 12 million yuan by an unnamed information services company.

Yao, 56, led the team that developed the digital renminbi and also headed technology supervision at China’s securities regulator. The anti-corruption watchdog said he had used his influence within the crypto sector for his own gain.