I suspect that China is planning to ban cryptocoins, but is doing it slowly so that big investors have the time to sell their coins to smaller fish. I presume that they would rather deal with 10,000 workers who lost 10,000 USD each than with one tycoon who lost 100 million because of the ban.
Perhaps you are right, however, from the way they run things, I would think one bullet in the head in quiet settings is cheaper (in many aspects) than 10,000 bullets in street riots.