On Monday, the price of Bitcoin dropped to its lowest point in weeks, owing to reports that China will continue to crack down on cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin’s decline drove down other cryptocurrencies, such as Ethereum, which has down more than 9% in the last 24 hours.
According to China’s state-run news agency Xinhua, China’s central bank issued a statement on Monday following regulatory consultations with other financial institutions and payment platforms, advising against providing services for virtual currencies. The People’s Bank of China said in a statement that cryptocurrency use increases the danger of criminal behavior and money laundering and that virtual currencies disturb legitimate economic activity.
Furthermore, over the weekend, Reuters and other foreign news agencies reported that officials in the southwest province of Sichuan ordered Bitcoin mining projects to stop, fueling fears of a Chinese crackdown on cryptocurrency.
Despite China’s opposition to cryptocurrency use, other nations have welcomed it, and a number of companies have worked to make it popular in the United States. El Salvador, a Central American country, became the first in the world to legalize the use of Bitcoin as a legal currency earlier this month. Venmo, a financial services company located in the United States, has announced that users would be able to buy, trade, and store cryptocurrencies on its app. Venmo’s news follows PayPal’s announcement that customers would be able to make online transactions using cryptocurrency.