Bitcoin falls 4.5% after China vows crackdown on cryptocurrency trading

Bitcoin, Ether and other digital tokens tumbled as China intensified its push to rein in crypto speculation and mining.

Bitcoin fell about 4% to $42,900 as of 10:39 a.m. in London. The losses were more severe in other coins, with Ether, EOS, Litecoin and Dash all falling more than 7%. Crypto-related stocks also came under pressure, with Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. tumbling 6% in U.S. pre-market trading.

China’s central bank said all cryptocurrency-related transactions are illegal, according to a Q&A statement on PBOC’s website. It’s an urgent task for China to root out crypto mining and the crackdown is important to meet carbon goals, according to the guidelines on the website of the nation’s economic planning agency.

China has brought intense scrutiny on the crypto industry this year amid heightened concerns over risks of fraud, money laundering and excessive energy usage. The country is a dominant player in crypto and as recently as April had a 46% share of the global hash rate, a measure of computing power used in mining and processing, according to the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index.

In July, the central bank vowed to maintain heavy regulatory pressure on cryptocurrency trading and speculation. China’s tough chance is part of the reason why Bitcoin prices collapsed in May and have struggled to regain previous all-time highs above $60,000.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.

As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.

Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.

Digital Editor