The price of Bitcoin dropped 9.7 per cent on the news, giving back gains made on Friday after a steep plunge on Thursday. Ethereum gave up A$388 within two hours of the State Council announcement, losing 15.5 per cent over 24 hours. The State Council is an administrative body in which cabinet-level executive department heads make national policies. Elon Musk's environmental concernsElon Musk's about-face on Bitcoin came as an epiphany on the environmental impacts of Bitcoin mining. Bitcoin mining uses vast amounts of energy to power specialised computers solving complex but useless mathematical problems.

Source: New Zealand Herald May 23, 2021 00:22 UTC