Airwallex, a global payments company valued at $8 billion, is reportedly moving staff out of China following explosive allegations that its operational footprint there creates a potential “Chinese backdoor” to sensitive US customer data.

The accusations, first raised publicly by venture capitalist Keith Rabois on December 1, 2025, have snowballed into a full-blown geopolitical controversy. One that now involves a US senator, questions about Chinese intelligence law, and a client list that includes Coinbase and defense contractor Anduril.

What Rabois actually alleged

Rabois pointed to a simple but uncomfortable fact: roughly 40% of Airwallex’s approximately 1,700 employees are based in mainland China and Hong Kong. For a company processing data for US AI labs and defense contractors, that ratio raised eyebrows.

The core of his argument centers on Chinese national intelligence laws. Those laws require Chinese citizens and organizations to cooperate with state intelligence efforts when asked.

Rabois also flagged the company’s investor base. Tencent and HongShan, two major Chinese investors, together own more than 20% of Airwallex. The implication being that the company’s ownership structure, combined with its Chinese workforce, creates theoretical pathways for sensitive American data to end up in the wrong hands.

Airwallex fires back, then the pressure builds

CEO Jack Zhang and Airwallex’s co-founders pushed back hard against the allegations. Their position: all US customer data is stored exclusively in the US or Singapore. Employees in China, they say, do not have access to production systems or sensitive customer information.

But the denials haven’t quieted the conversation. Internal concerns about China-based staff accessing client Know Your Customer data reportedly surfaced as early as 2023, well before Rabois went public. KYC data is the identity verification information companies collect to comply with anti-money-laundering regulations. It includes things like passports, addresses, and financial records.

The political dimension escalated on December 18, 2025, when Senator Tom Cotton formally requested an investigation into whether American data could be accessed by the Chinese government through Airwallex’s operations.

Airwallex continues to operate actively within China. The company recently surpassed $1 billion in annual recurring revenue.

Why this matters beyond Airwallex

The Coinbase connection adds a layer of relevance. If a payments processor handling data for one of the largest US crypto exchanges faces credible questions about data sovereignty, that’s a concern that ripples outward.

The defense contractor angle makes this particularly combustible. Anduril builds weapons systems and surveillance technology for the US military. The idea that its payments data flows through a company with 40% of its workforce in China, regardless of data residency architecture, is the kind of narrative that writes its own headlines in Washington.