Bitcoin fell sharply on Thursday after a new statement by the Central Bank of China.
The first cryptocurrency fell by almost $2,500, approaching the lows for a week and a half around $32,000.
Bitcoin and stablecoins have turned into speculative instruments that threaten the security of the financial system and social stability, vice Chairman of the People's Bank of China (PBOC) Fan Yifei said on Thursday.
According to him, it was the threats coming from the first cryptocurrency and stablockins that caused the introduction of restrictive measures. Yifei promised that in the near future Beijing will introduce new measures against the cryptosphere.
Answering questions from journalists, Fan Yifei pointed out that private digital currencies and central bank digital currencies (CBDC) should be separated. China will continue to actively promote the digital yuan and will use it during the 2022 Winter Olympics, which will begin in February.
Calls for the introduction of strict restrictions on mining and crypto trading were made by the Chinese authorities in mid-May. In June, four provinces of China completely banned the mining of cryptocurrencies, and banks and other financial organizations of the People's Republic of China were banned from conducting operations related to digital assets.
As a result, more than 70% of miners were forced to turn off their equipment to move to other countries. The hashrate of the first cryptocurrency has decreased by more than 50% in a month.
Against this background, bitcoin has fallen by 20% in two months. Experts agree that if the Chinese authorities continue to put pressure on the market, then a further decline in bitcoin is inevitable.