China Bans All Cryptocurrency-Related Activities

China’s central bank renewed its tough talk on bitcoin Friday, calling all digital currency activities illegal and vowing to crack down on the market. In a Q&A posted to its website, the People’s Bank of China said services offering to trade, order matching, token issuance, and derivatives for virtual currencies are strictly prohibited. Overseas crypto exchanges providing services in mainland China are also illegal, the PBOC said.

The PBOC said it has also improved its systems to step up monitoring of crypto-related transactions and root out speculative investing. “Financial institutions and non-bank payment institutions cannot offer services to activities and operations related to virtual currencies,” the bank said, reiterating past comments.

The price of bitcoin sank over 3% on a 24-hour basis, the last trading at around $42,239, according to Coin Metrics data. Ethereum, the second-largest digital asset, fell 7% to $2,860.Stocks with heavy exposure to crypto also slumped in premarket trading, with Coinbase down by nearly 4%, MicroStrategy slipping 5%, and Riot Blockchain down over 6%.

China’s crypto crackdown comes as Beijing is looking to fulfill its climate targets. The country is the world’s biggest carbon emitter and has set out to become carbon neutral by 2060. Meanwhile, the PBOC is also working on its own digital currency. China is seen as a leading contender in the race toward central bank-issued digital currencies, having trialed a virtual version of the yuan in several regions.








SOURCE: FOX News