BEVERLY HILLS, September 08, (THEWILL) – The price of bitcoin crashed $400 following rumors that China was planning to make it illegal to operate a bitcoin exchange within the country.
A regional financial website on Friday reported that China will declare that operating a bitcoin exchange will constitute “illegal economic activities”.
This led to fears that regulators would soon shut them down especially as the country’s central bank begun monitoring bitcoin exchanges more closely this year.
Although, the Chinese government had yet to confirm the ban, but the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) stated it would continue to conduct on-site inspections and has begun to crack down on activities within the cryptocurrency space.
Just this Monday, the bank ruled that initial coin offerings (ICOs) were illegal and ordered startups to return all crowdsale funds to their investors.
The markets had just begun to recover from the sell-off that the ICO ruling initiated as today’s rumors caused another fall in bitcoin price.
As at midday, the bitcoin price was trading at an average of $4,619 but within 10 minutes, bitcoin dropped to $4,224.
OKCoin, which accounts for more than $90 million in daily bitcoin volume, prices bitcoin at $3,815, more than $500 below BTC/USD on Bitfinex.
The coin is faring even worse on Huobi, where BTC/CNY is trading at $3,794 but on Bitfinex, the bitcoin price has climbed back above $4,300.
Analysts predict that an official ban would undoubtedly lead to a price contraction and warn that investors should expect the Bitcoin Price volatility to continue as this story develops.
About the Author
