Organizers postponed the Solana Shanghai event on Friday morning after several law enforcement officers kept guests outside the Shangri-La Hotel, attendees said. The official email cited venue logistics.
The delay came only two days after the Solana Foundation showed off a new Shanghai office. Mainland China has banned crypto trading since 2021, although blockchain technology itself remains legal.
Officers at the Door Stall the Solana Shanghai Event
Several officers guarded the hotel entrance, according to an attendee on X. Guests waited outside for more than an hour, and the program did not start.
In a later email to registered guests, the Solana Accelerate China team blamed venue logistics for postponing the morning agenda.
The team apologized for the short notice and said it would contact attendees directly once it confirms a new schedule. The email made no mention of the officers.
CZ Calls It a Repeat, Not a One-Off
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) called it “sad to see” on X. He asked whether organizers really didn’t know the local policies and added that the same thing happened less than a year ago.
Sad to see. Looks like they really didn't know the local policies? But it's not the first time either, same thing happened less than a year ago: https://t.co/c2lI8p2r9w https://t.co/n2Zv1hpIyZ
— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) October 16, 2026
Days earlier, he had welcomed Solana’s new Shanghai office as a win for the whole industry. He also noted that BNB Chain had not taken a similar step so far.
CZ pointed to Solana Accelerate APAC in Shenzhen in October 2025. Local police made an on-site inquiry there, and organizers cut the final hackathon session, citing overcrowding.
That makes the Solana Shanghai event the second Solana gathering in China disrupted within a year.
Meanwhile, a February joint notice banned unauthorized yuan-pegged stablecoins and reaffirmed the blanket crypto prohibition.
At the same time, the state is building a national blockchain network of its own, with no role for tokens.
That puts Solana’s China push in an awkward spot. Coinbase faces a similar gray zone after reportedly opening easier access for mainland users.
CZ’s question now hangs over the rest of the series, which also includes stops in Hangzhou, Shenzhen, and Beijing. For foreign crypto firms, the Solana Shanghai event is a reminder to check local rules first.
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