Updated May 20th, 2021 at 14:13 IST

Bitcoin Price crashed as China bans Crypto Exchanges and Initial Coin offerings

The cryptocurrency Bitcoin suffered a major crash on May 19 after China's reinforcement of its crypto ban. Read on for more details on the Bitcoin crash.

Reported by: Sakshat Kolhatkar
IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK | Image:self
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The world's most prominent cryptocurrency Bitcoin suffered a major crash that wiped out hundreds of billions of dollars of net worth from Bitcoin investors around the world. Bitcoin was not the only crypto that saw a steep fall in price, the whole crypto market saw a big crash on Wednesday, May 19. As Bitcoin continued to fall, many people asked the question - why is Bitcoin going down? Read on to know what caused the Bitcoin crash. 

As China Reinforces Crypto Ban, Bitcoin Crashes

The Bitcoin Crash was triggered when China reinforced a ban on cryptocurrencies. While owning cryptocurrencies is not illegal in China, crypto exchanges and Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) were banned by the Chinese government yesterday. Moreover, the Chinese government has instructed its banking services and online payment providers to stop their dealings with crypto exchanges. As per an article by Forbes, this was done to protect the interest of Chinese investors as the crypto markets are highly volatile. 

As news of the Chinese ban was out worldwide, many Chinese and other investors sold their Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to protect their investments, which led to a crash in the Bitcoin price. As per Coin Market Cap, at its lowest point yesterday, Bitcoin had fallen down to a price of $30,000 from a high of $46,000 on May 18, an almost 30 per cent crash in 24 hours. As Bitcoin crashed, other Altcoins including Etheruem, Dogecoin and most other cryptocurrencies also crashed, leading to a worldwide crypto market crash. 

Since then, the crypto market has recovered, with Bitcoin sitting at a price of $40,000 and many other coins are slowly recovering their positions as well. There were other factors that also lead to this worldwide market crash. Since Tesla announced a week ago they would stop accepting payments, Bitcoin prices had fallen slowly for a week. Many people on the crypto forums talked about how the crypto market was in a bubble and that a crash was coming that would cause a 'correction in the prices'. 


DISCLAIMER: The information provided on this website is for educational and entertainment purposes. The information provided on this websites does not constitute investment advice, financial advice or trading advice. Republic World does not recommend purchasing any cryptocurrency. Crypto markets are highly volatile and crypto investments are risky. Readers should do their own research on cryptocurrencies and consult their financial adviser before making any crypto investments.

 

IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK

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Published May 20th, 2021 at 14:13 IST