Déjà vu – China Crackdown on Bitcoin Trading and Mining

It seems like history is repeating itself once again as the Chinese authorities have reiterated plans to crack down on Bitcoin trading and mining activities in the country.

Breaking: The State Council of China: Crack down on Bitcoin mining and trading, and prevent individual risks transmitted to the social field.

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) May 21, 2021

Upon the news, the price of Bitcoin dropped by 10 percent below $40,000 USD late on Friday and is still on the decline as we reported in the reasons why Bitcoin crashed.

This isn’t the first time China has caused FUD with Bitcoin, they did almost exactly the same thing back in 2013 causing the Bitcoin price to drop from $1k to $400. China then did the same thing again in 2018 causing the Bitcoin price to drop from $20k to $6k.

China Ban Bitcoin Mining Operations

Following the report shared by the Chinese journalist, the State Council of China, and Vice Premier Liu, He is looking to step up regulatory measures to protect the financial systems while also preventing individual financial risks. This was discussed in their 51st meeting of the “State Council Financial Stability and Development Committee” of May 21. 

This is the first time that the highest level of the Chinese government has clearly proposed a blow to the mining industry.

Crypto reporter, Colin Wu

As part of the measures, the State Council intensified their call to crackdown Bitcoin trading and mining in the country and “and resolutely prevent the transmission of individual risks to the social field.”

The impact of this incident is still uncertain, but it is possible that all public mining activities in China will be banned, and exchanges may face severe blows.

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) May 21, 2021

China houses the majority of Bitcoin’s global hashrate. Over 65 percent of Bitcoin mining activities are observed in the country, and so, some people are curious about how the Chinese ban on BTC mining will affect the overall network health.

On the other hand, some believe the development will propel more Bitcoin mining activities in the United States with clean energy.

What ppl don’t understand is that ppl who care about Bitcoin and the planet _want_ China to ban bitcoin mining. Eliminates (outside) risk factor, decarbonizes BTC, decentralizes HR, ++ margins for clean US based miners.

I am praying for another ban like IM.

— nic carter (@nic__carter) April 17, 2021

We reported that China was clamping down on Bitcoin mining operations back in March, forcing F2Pool to sell off their BTC.