Investors use crypto exchanges to avoid Chinese controls on AI stocks
Perpetual futures let investors circumvent restrictions on foreign access to China’s equity market
Source: Financial Times
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DW NOTE
Beijing's capital controls have always been porous for those with money and motivation. Now perpetual futures on crypto exchanges give mainland investors synthetic exposure to Chinese AI stocks without touching Shanghai or Shenzhen. The irony is perfect: the Party wanted to contain foreign speculation in domestic equities while retaining access to global capital. Instead, it pushed its own citizens offshore to trade against each other on unregulated platforms denominated in stablecoins. Capital controls are only as strong as the weakest on-ramp, and in 2026 that's a Binance perpetual with 20x leverage.