It was a bad weekend for cryptocurrency investors around the globe as popular virtual coins fell sharply due to the rising value of the US dollar and intensified Chinese crackdown on mining activities. Cryptocurrency prices remained weak on Monday amid higher volatility.
Bitcoin, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, fell sharply over the weekend and its bad run continued on Monday. At 10:40 am, Bitcoin was trading over five per cent lower than its price 24 hours ago, below $34,000.
Rival Ether’s valuation has also taken a massive knock, and it is struggling to stay above $2,000 at the moment. Other popular cryptocurrencies such as XRP, Cardano, Dogecoin, Stellar, Polkadot, Chainlink and Litecoin are also trading much weaker than their value a day ago.
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The broad-based weakness in the cryptocurrency market is due to high outflows as a result of the US dollar’s rising valuation. It may be noted that the dollar has held its position near a multi-month high after the US Federal Reserve’s hawkish tilt.
But China’s crackdown on cryptocurrency mining seems to be behind the fresh weakness. A report by news agency Reuters suggests that Chinese authorities have now cracked down on crypto mining activities in the southwest province of Sichuan.
China’s crypto crackdown intensified recently as authorities continue to shut key mining operations. It is a big blow to cryptocurrencies, considering that China accounts for more than half of global Bitcoin production.
It seems Friday’s move in Sichuan came as a big blow to cryptocurrencies and suggests that China’s crackdown is more broadly based than it appeared before.
Here are the latest prices and trends of popular cryptocurrencies:
|
Cryptocurrency |
Price (US Dollar) |
24-hour change |
Market cap (Billion) |
Volume (24 Hours) |
|
Bitcoin |
34,200.99 |
-4.79% |
$640.91 |
$36.05 billion |
|
Ether |
2,118.15 |
-4.62% |
$246.42 |
$25.69 billion |
|
Dogecoin |
0.265452 |
-7.36% |
$34.50 |
$2.77 billion |
|
Litecoin |
147.78 |
-4.64% |
$10.04 |
$2.57 billion |
|
XRP (Ripple) |
0.727391 |
-4.45% |
$72.73 |
$3.37 million |
|
Cardano |
1.37 |
-2.78% |
$44.19 |
$3.14 billion |
The Sichuan Provincial Development and Reform Commission and the Sichuan Energy Bureau issued a joint notice, demanding the closure of 26 suspected crypto mining projects by next Sunday. It is worth mentioning that Sichuan is China’s second-biggest Bitcoin mining province.
Other regional mining centres including Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Yunnan have ordered crackdowns on bitcoin mining. However, the fresh crackdown in Sichuan Province indicates that China’s displeasure with cryptocurrency mining extends beyond cases where it uses electricity generated by burning coal.
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DISCLAIMER: The cryptocurrency prices have been updated as of 11:15 am and will change as the day progresses. The list is intended to give a rough idea about popular cryptocurrency trends and will be updated on a daily basis.