Bitcoin (BTC-USD) dropped over 11% on Tuesday morning after Chinese officials accelerated its crackdown on crypto-mining.
The digital currency, which back in April had gone over $60,000, went below $30,000 and had all its gains for 2021 disappear. It then went back up somewhat past $30,000 later on in the morning but stayed down several points compared to the day previous.
The heavy fall comes after China has moved to further restrain Bitcoin trading and mining within its nation.
China put out a statement on Monday revealing how it had informed major banks to “completely investigate” crypto-exchanges in order to help efforts in restricting trading. In the past couple of months, China has pushed more crackdowns against mining, creating a much more rough environment for bitcoin.
“A decentralized and distributed governance, is essentially the opposite to what the Chinese leadership believes., Ava Labs President John Wu said.
China has restricted crypto-mining in their Sichuan sector, one of the nation’s largest crypto mining areas. This crackdown is happening through the investigation of electricity usage to make sure mining is stopped. Alipay, a China-based payment company, also said it would sever ties with people using digital currency transactions.
Yet Nik Bhatia, a professor from the University of California, stressed that China’s move might not necessarily mean they are completely against cryptocurrency.
“The CCP has made it known for many years and decades, that becoming the new superpower, and replacing the U.S. or being equal to the U.S. is their ultimate goal., Bhatia said.
“And so when you review the increasing adoption of bitcoin and its spot as an asset, I do think China wants to be a part of it … From what I have seen in Chinese news, they see it as a solid investment and possible gold replacement. That is one side. But they also want to ensure that illegal trading is prevented and that the government leaders have control over the market. So, it is really a two-sided thing.”
Author: Blake Ambrose
Comments are closed.