by Chiara Rossi The prices of Bitcoin and other digital currencies collapse in the wake of the Chinese Central Bank's veto. All the details
Cryptocurrency prices slide after the Chinese Central Bank (PBOC) has defined all digital currency transitions as "illegal", promising severe actions on the markets. Bitcoin leaves 3.62% on the field at 42,367.8 dollars, with a weekly decrease of 9.75%. Smaller cryptocurrencies, which typically rise and fall in tandem with bitcoin, have also collapsed. Ethereum is also under pressure, which drops 7.44% to $ 2,880.08, falling 16.94% on a weekly basis. This isn't the first time China has been rough with cryptocurrencies. Earlier this year, Beijing announced a crackdown on cryptocurrency mining, CNBC recalls. Pboc had also already ordered banks and non-bank payment institutions such as Ant Group (fintech of the Chinese giant Alibaba) not to provide services related to cryptocurrencies. And for a country that is closed to cryptocurrencies, there is also one that opens. Like Laos. This week, the Southeast Asian country authorized the mining and trading of cryptocurrencies, in a change of policy to profit from the crackdown on digital currency mining in China. Without forgetting the recent step of a social network towards cryptocurrencies. Twitter which will allow users to use bitcoin for the Tips service. All the details.
THE DECISION OF THE CHINESE CENTRAL BANK
The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said services offering trading, order matching, issuing tokens and derivatives for virtual currencies are strictly prohibited. Cross-border cryptocurrency exchanges that provide services in mainland China are also illegal, the PBOC said. The Chinese institute also added that workers in foreign cryptocurrency exchanges will be investigated. The move comes after the Chinese State Council promised in May to crack down on bitcoin mining and trading as part of efforts to fend off financial risk, triggering a major cryptocurrency sell-off. THE IMPACT ON THE SECURITIES OF CRYPTOCURRENCIES And today the news from Beijing hit bitcoin and other digital currencies putting pressure on stocks related to cryptocurrencies and blockchains. According to data from Coin Metrics, the price of bitcoin fell by more than 3% on a 24/7 basis, the latest trade at around $ 42,239. Ethereum, the second largest digital asset, fell 7% to $ 2,860. XRP (-7%) and cardan (-3.7%) were also down. Stocks with heavy exposure to cryptocurrencies also tumbled in pre-market trading, with Coinbase down nearly 4%, MicroStrategy down 5%, and Riot Blockchain down more than 6%. LAOS OPENING TO DIGITAL CURRENCY MINING Chinese crackdown on cryptocurrencies, which benefited from two important news this week. Laos has authorized mining and trading operations on its territory, contradicting the policies of its central bank which had issued warnings against cryptocurrencies just a month earlier. The move comes as the small Asian nation tries to find alternative sources of income to deal with the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. The prime minister's office said six companies are now authorized to conduct cryptocurrency-related businesses in the country. Now the government will reportedly start work to regulate these activities. Laos may also try to attract some of the miners ousted from China, being a close substitute that can also offer a lot of low-cost hydroelectricity that is currently not being used to its full potential. TWITTER'S MOVE Finally, Twitter opened up to Bitcoin. The social network founded by Jack Dorsey will allow users to pay using cryptocurrency. In detail, Twitter has launched the Tips service globally, i.e. the tips it can send to users who activate the service, free of charge. The company introduced tipping as evidence in May to help creators earn payments from their creators for content they post on Twitter. Bitcoin suggestions are facilitated by Strike, a Bitcoin wallet app that runs on the Lightning Network protocol. Lightning is designed to enable faster and cheaper transactions using Bitcoin. The company behind Lightning received funding from Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, a staunch Bitcoin supporter who tweeted in June that it was "only a matter of time" before Twitter supported protocol payments, The Verge recalled.