REUTERSChina yesterday banned financial and payment institutions from conducting business with virtual currencies, sending prices of bitcoin and ethereum into a tailspin. The move, jointly announced by the National Internet Finance Association of China, China Banking Association, and Payment and Clearing Association of China, was China's latest attempt to clamp down on what was a burgeoning digital trading market. The institutions must not provide saving, trust, or pledging services of cryptocurrency, nor issue financial products related to cryptocurrency, it said. The statement also highlighted the risks of cryptocurrency trading, saying virtual currencies "are not supported by real value," their prices are easily manipulated, and trading contracts are not protected by Chinese law. In 2017, China shut down its local cryptocurrency exchanges, smothering a speculative market that had accounted for 90 percent of global bitcoin trading.

Source: The Standard May 19, 2021 19:07 UTC