Has Winter come to Bitcoin with exchange closures in China ?

There was no immediate word from other Chinese bitcoin exchanges about their plans. The restrictions will reportedly only apply to trading on exchanges, not over-the-counter transactions.

An issue of secondary concern to bitcoin enthusiasts may be about whether other nations will follow China’s lead.

Bitcoin is plummeting in value as exchanges based in China begin their forced shutdown following changes to regulations introduced by the Chinese government.

China is cracking down on the cryptocurrency business to try to limit risks as consumers pile into a highly speculative market that has grown rapidly this year. Some reports estimate that China’s share of total worldwide hash rate (closely linked with bitcoin production via mining) is at 71% or higher.

Yesterday Litecoin creator Charlie Lee tweeted that the leading Chinese cryptocurrency exchanges OKCoin and Huobi are meeting with regulators on Friday, despite the exchanges themselves claimed that they had not been contacted by authorities. On September 1, 2017, Bitcoin peaked at just shy of $5,000 per unit.

According to the Bitcoin Price Index, which offers an average of the various global platforms, the currency had plunged as low as $3,640 by Thursday evening after peaking at an all-time high of around $4,359 on Tuesday.

The CEO of JPMorgan Chase Jamie Dimon has denounced the bitcoin cryptocurrency as a fraud, bound to fail. However, according to Yicai, on September 13th, the China Internet Finance Association issued a risk warning, saying that all of the so-called ” virtual currency” trading platform in China lacks a legal basis.

“They can become a tool for illegal fund flows and investment deals”. The central bank has not responded to questions about the currency’s future in China. Analysts have speculated that it could be the start of a broader crackdown by governments around the world leery of the potential for digital currencies to be used in scams or for black-market activity.

On Wednesday, it urged members to abide by Chinese laws and not deal in cryptocurrencies. The PBoC and Chinese financial regulators finally stopped dragging Chinese exchanges through one policy change to the next regarding renminbi, although there may be more to come.

To make matters worse, some big names on Wall Street have blasted bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market this week. The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority, the country’s top regulator, warned this week that investors in the virtual currency should be “prepared to lose your entire stake”.