Alipay denies Peer claim it supports USDC trading

In short

• Alipay said on X on 28 October 2026 it does not support virtual currency trading or related services.
• The denial came after peer-to-peer crypto platform Peer said its beta allows buying and selling USDC for yuan through Alipay.
• Peer said 45 buyers completed 107 orders worth about $7,094 since 21 August.
• Peer says there is no official Alipay partnership, but its website still lists Alipay as a payment method.

Alipay denies USDC support

Alipay, China's payments giant, said on 28 October 2026 that it does not support virtual currency trading or related services. It was denying a claim by peer-to-peer crypto platform Peer that its beta lets users buy and sell the USDC stablecoin for Chinese yuan through Alipay. Peer had said 45 buyers completed 107 orders worth about $7,094 since 21 August, according to ChainCatcher. Alipay runs one of China's largest payment apps; Peer is a peer-to-peer crypto platform built on Base, a blockchain network, where buyers and sellers deal directly. USDC is a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar.

How Peer's yuan to USDC beta works

Peer's beta works as a peer-to-peer lane rather than an Alipay-branded product. Buyers pay individual sellers in yuan through Alipay, and the USDC they buy is held in an on-chain escrow contract on Base until payment is verified, according to ChainCatcher. Peer says it has no official partnership with Alipay, The Defiant reported, and its website still displayed Alipay as a payment method after the denial. The peer-to-peer setup means Alipay is a payment rail between users, not a counterparty.

Alipay's warning to users

Alipay's official account addressed Peer's X handles (@peerxyz and @Peer_zh) directly on 28 October 2026. Alipay (@Alipay) said on X that it offers no support for trading in virtual currencies or services tied to them. It rejected suggestions that third-party sites let people buy crypto through Alipay, describing them as untrue and not authorised. Users were reminded to take care over their funds and account safety. BlockBeats and Odaily reported the same statement.

Why Alipay users should care

For ordinary Alipay users, the denial is a warning. China still restricts cryptocurrency trading, and Alipay told users to exercise caution to protect their funds and account safety, according to the post. Peer's beta involves buyers moving yuan through Alipay to individual sellers, so the status of those payments is now unclear. The Defiant reported on 29 October that Peer's website still displayed Alipay as a payment method, while Peer says there is no official partnership.

Crypto watchers call it a misread

On X, web3春丽 (@doollenz) described the story as a misunderstanding rather than an Alipay crypto launch, saying that 'Alipay now supports USDC' was a misreading. Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) wrote on X that Alipay had denied backing crypto trading through third-party platforms. John Morgan (@johnmorganFL) said on X that Peer had started a peer-to-peer route from Alipay yuan into USDC on Base. The Defiant (@DefiantNews) said on X that Peer still shows Alipay as a payment option while stating there is no official partnership.

Timeline

• 27 Oct 2026: Peer announces Alipay channel for yuan to USDC beta
• 28 Oct 2026: Alipay posts on X denying crypto trading support
• 29 Oct 2026: The Defiant reports Peer still lists Alipay, no partnership

Questions readers ask

Did Alipay enable USDC trading on Peer?

No. In a post on X on 28 October 2026, Alipay said that it does not support virtual currency trading or related services, and that claims it enables crypto purchases on third-party platforms are false and unauthorised. Peer says there is no official partnership with Alipay.

What did Peer say about yuan to USDC trading?

Peer said its beta lets users buy and sell USDC for yuan through Alipay, with 45 buyers completing 107 orders worth about $7,094 since 21 August, according to ChainCatcher. The USDC is held in an on-chain escrow contract until payment is verified.

Is buying USDC with yuan through Alipay legal?

China still restricts cryptocurrency trading, and Alipay reminded users to exercise caution to protect their funds and account safety. Peer's beta uses Alipay as a peer-to-peer payment rail, but Alipay has denied supporting it.

Our view

At InvestIn.News, we think the story is a gap between product marketing and a payments company's compliance line, not an Alipay move into crypto. Peer's beta uses Alipay as a peer-to-peer payment rail between a buyer and an individual seller, not as an Alipay-branded crypto product. Alipay's official post on X is the primary fact, and Peer's claim of 107 orders worth about $7,094 should stay attributed to Peer alone.

This distinction matters because China still restricts cryptocurrency trading and Alipay reminded users to protect their funds and account safety. The phrase 'Alipay now supports USDC' is a misread, as web3春丽 (@doollenz) said on X, and Peer says it has no official partnership with Alipay. That limits Alipay's direct exposure but leaves Peer's users uncertain about their yuan payments.

A clear response from Peer or a change to its website, which The Defiant reported still listed Alipay as a payment method, would confirm or change this reading.

— Ishu Aggarwal

Follow the latest news as it breaks on Stablecoins NewsFeeds.

Ishu Aggarwal