The price of Bitcoin fell below $34,000 (£24,030) for the first time in three months on Wednesday, after China imposed fresh curbs on crypto-currenci

Bitcoin falls further as China cracks down on crypto-currencies

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2021-05-22 17:00:05

The price of Bitcoin fell below $34,000 (£24,030) for the first time in three months on Wednesday, after China imposed fresh curbs on crypto-currencies.

Meanwhile, other digital currencies such as Ether, which acts as the fuel for the Ethereum blockchain network, and Dogecoin lost as much as 22% and 24% respectively.

At the same time, Tesla shares fell more than 3% on Wall Street, possibly because of the electric carmaker's exposure to Bitcoin.

Crypto-currency trading has been illegal in China since 2019 in order to curb money-laundering. But people are still able to trade in currencies such as Bitcoin online, which has concerned Beijing.

On Tuesday, three state-backed organisations, including the National Internet Finance Association of China, the China Banking Association and the Payment and Clearing Association of China issued a warning on social media.

They added that recent wild swings in crypto-currency prices "seriously violate people's asset safety" and are disrupting the "normal economic and financial order".