Bitcoin took a beating after the latest Chinese move, and is now down nearly 50% from it’s all-time high. It shed as much as 17% on Sunday, before paring some losses and was last trading steady in Asia. Elsewhere, Ether fell to a two-month low on Sunday, down 60% from a record peak hit just 12 days ago. Cryptocurrency mining operators, including a Huobi Mall and BTC.TOP, are suspending their China operations after Beijing stepped up its efforts to crack down on bitcoin mining and trading, sending the digital currency tumbling.
Crypto miners use increasingly powerful, specially-designed computer equipment, or rigs, to verify virtual coin transactions in a process which produces newly minted crypto currencies such as bitcoin. According to the Chen Jiahe, chief investment officer of Beijing-based family office Novem Arcae Technologies, “Crypto mining consumes a lot of energy, which runs counter to China’s carbon neutrality goals,”. The crackdown is also part of China’s stepped-up drive to curb speculative crypto trading, he added.
