China has outlawed all cryptocurrency transactions

The People's Bank of China has declared all cryptocurrency transactions illegal, writes Bloomberg, citing a report from the regulator.

All cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and ether, are outlawed, they are not fiat, that is, not secured assets, and therefore cannot be traded on the market, the Chinese central bank said. All transactions related to cryptocurrencies, including the services of offshore cryptocurrency exchanges to residents of the PRC, are illegal financial transactions, the agency quotes.

The announcement comes in the context of a new statement from the economic planning body that “stopping” cryptocurrency mining is one of the key conditions for achieving emission reduction targets.

After the release of new instructions from the regulator, bitcoin quotes fell by 4.5%, to $42,500, and the fall of other crypto assets, including ether, approached 7%.

Today's ban should be considered the next in a series of harsh statements by the Chinese regulator regarding cryptocurrencies, the agency notes. In June, State Council Premier Liu He called for tighter regulation of mining and crypto trading (which was followed by real restrictions), in July a de facto ban on mining was introduced by a state-owned energy company. After that, the total computing power of bitcoin, 46% of which was provided by China back in April, shifted to other countries. The fact that Bitcoin cannot rise to the spring high of $60,000 in any way is also one of the results of this policy, Bloomberg notes.