The crypto market is suffering a small crash, which has dragged down all of the biggest currencies.
Bitcoin fell 6.55 per cent over the day, and ethereum was down more than 10 per cent. Other smaller currencies such as dogecoin were hit even harder – the meme crypto lost more than 10 per cent over the day.
In total, the market had fallen 6.34 per cent at the time of publication, according to tracking website CoinMarketCap. Volume also increased, presumably as holders looked to sell their currencies ahead of any possible larger slide.
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That meant that the crypto market had lost $100 billion in the flash crash, which began overnight UK time.
The fall came amid increasing concern about a regulatory crackdown on digital currencies, particularly in China. Regulators in the country have stressed once more that they do not look favourably on crypto, and that it could face more legal scrutiny.
The latest warning came as the Chinese central bank shut down a Beijing-based software firm over suspected cryptocurrency transactions.
The People’s Bank of China warned that financial and payment institutions in the country are banned from involvement in cryptocurrencies.
It reiterated that it would be working “to prevent and control the risk of speculation in virtual currency transactions, and protect the safety of the public’s assets”.
While the country has taken a dim view of cryptocurrencies generally for some time, authorities have in recent weeks stepped up their threats of further regulation and scrutiny.
That has led to a series of crashes, which have often seen significant losses. China accounts for a considerable amount of the cryptocurrency market, and miners in the country are a large part of the infrastructure underpinning digital currencies.
