Investing.com – Bitcoin slumped on Friday amid a report that Chinese regulators were planning to shut down local cryptocurrency exchanges sparking fears that large bitcoin/Chinese yuan exchanges would be forced to halt trading.
On the U.S.-based Bitfinex exchange, bitcoin fell to $4298.9, down $323.5 or 7.01%, and remained well below its recent peak of $4,911.80. At current prices Bitcoin boasts a market cap of $69.94 billion.
The financial news site Caixin reported that the Chinese government is considering banning key cryptocurrency exchanges in China which would leave many Chinese citizens unable to use exchanges to buy cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.
The latest crackdown on cryptocurrency activity in China comes a few days after the People’s Bank of China (PboC) sent shockwaves through the cryptocurrency market, after imposing a ban on individuals and businesses from raising funds through initial coin offerings (ICOs).
An initial coin offering ICO is a means fundraising via the use of cryptocurrency in which a company attracts investors by releasing its own digital currency which can appreciate in value if the business is successful.
The string of recent measures proposed by China to curb the use of cryptocurrencies has unsettled investors as strong demand from the Far East has been a key factor supporting cryptocurrency growth.
Bitcoin Cash fell $71.33, or 10.71%, to $594.61, while Ethereum fell 9.18% to $303.75.
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