The Solana Foundation, the Switzerland-based nonprofit organization that supports the development of the Solana blockchain, postponed the Shanghai stop of its Solana Accelerate China 2026 tour on Friday, October 16, the same morning the event was scheduled to begin.
Foundation President Lily Liu later said registrations had quadrupled overnight and far exceeded the attendance limit registered with local authorities. Attendees, meanwhile, reported law enforcement officers outside the venue at the Shangri-La Hotel in Shanghai and said they were kept waiting outside for more than an hour.
What Organizers Told Registered Attendees
In an email to registered guests, which was relayed by Chinese crypto media outlets, organizers said the morning program had been postponed because of venue logistics. The message read: “Due to logistical considerations at the venue, this morning’s agenda has been postponed. Once a new schedule is confirmed, all registered attendees will be notified directly. We sincerely apologize for such short notice and for any inconvenience caused to those who planned to attend.”
Registration for the Shanghai stop was managed through Luma, an online event registration platform. The organizers did not provide a new date in the email.
Lily Liu Cites Registration Surge and Local Event Cap
Hours later, Liu addressed the postponement in a post on X. She said the team had projected Solana branding on a prominent Shanghai building because “that’s the big heart Solana has for the Chinese community.”
She added: “Due to the publicity, event registrations quadrupled overnight, far exceeding the event cap we had registered with local authorities, and we had no way to prevent people from overwhelming the venue. So, in order to comply with local requirements, we are going to postpone this event for when we can better accommodate the breadth and scale of our community. Apologies to everyone who came from near and far to come be part of Solana in Shanghai. See you soon!”
The post included an image of the Shanghai skyline at night, showing “SOLANA” lit up on a skyscraper in Lujiazui, the city’s main financial district.
Attendees Describe Officers Outside the Shangri-La Hotel
Accounts from the scene described a different sequence of events. An attendee posting as Olivia (@knowyourself518) wrote in Chinese that the event at the Shanghai Shangri-La had been “temporarily suspended.” She said eight or nine law enforcement personnel were stationed outside and that attendees were held outside the venue for more than an hour. Some attendees were reportedly asked why they were attending.
Neither Chinese authorities nor the Solana Foundation has independently confirmed these accounts. As of publication, neither had publicly commented on the reported presence of officers.
CZ Questions Solana’s Understanding of Local Policies
Changpeng Zhao, the Binance co-founder widely known as CZ, quote-posted the attendee’s account on X and wrote: “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.”
Zhao was referring to a Solana Accelerate APAC (Asia-Pacific) event in Shenzhen on October 28, 2025, which was cut short after a local police inquiry. At the time, organizers attributed the early end to venue capacity and public safety, and cancelled the event’s final hackathon session. The South China Morning Post reported on both the Shenzhen episode and the Shanghai postponement, noting mainland China’s restrictions on cryptocurrency-related business.
Zhao’s comment marked a shift in tone. Earlier in the week, he had praised Solana’s Shanghai expansion. He noted that Solana had managed to advertise and set up an office in China, which BNB Chain, the blockchain network associated with the Binance ecosystem, had not done. He also said he hoped the development would benefit the wider industry. The Crypto Times has reported in detail on how CZ questioned Solana’s grasp of China’s rules after the Shanghai event was halted.
A Week of High-Profile Solana Promotion in Shanghai
The postponement followed a week of visible promotion in the city. On October 14, Solana branding appeared in a light show on the exterior of the Citibank Tower in Lujiazui, and Solana Foundation representatives publicized a new Shanghai office.
The activity comes amid wider debate about China’s stance on digital assets. Earlier this month, Solana Company Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Joseph Chee said that China reopening access to crypto could trigger another “supercycle”, although no such reopening has been announced.
Hangzhou, Shenzhen and Beijing Stops Remain Unconfirmed
Shanghai was the first stop of the four-city Accelerate China tour, which is scheduled to run from October 16 to October 22. The remaining stops are listed for Hangzhou on October 18, Shenzhen on October 20 and Beijing on October 22.
The published agenda focused on blockchain infrastructure, artificial intelligence (AI) agents, robotics, payments and developer tools rather than token trading. As of the latest reports on October 16, organizers had not said whether the remaining stops would go ahead as planned.
China’s Restrictions on Crypto Business Activities
Mainland China has prohibited cryptocurrency trading and related business activities since 2021. That year, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), the country’s central bank, and nine other government bodies issued a notice dated September 15, 2021 declaring virtual currency-related business activities to be illegal financial activities.
On February 6, 2026, the PBoC and seven other departments issued a revised notice that reaffirmed the ban and extended oversight to real-world asset tokenization. Blockchain technology itself has received limited tolerance for enterprise and technical uses, leaving foreign projects that want to hold in-person events with narrow and uneven room to operate.
The Solana Foundation has framed its China activities around technology, developer engagement and ecosystem building. The Shanghai incident shows the practical limits blockchain projects face when building a physical presence in mainland China, even when their events avoid promoting trading. Further updates will depend on statements from the organizers or local authorities.
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