Why Is Bitcoin Tanking Today?

Bitcoin BTC/USD has tanked over 18.5% over the last seven days and was down over 6% on a 24-hour basis.

What Happened: The apex cryptocurrency traded 6.12% lower at $32,928.97 over 24 hours and was down 18.61% over a seven-day period at press time.

See Also: How To Buy Bitcoin (BTC)

BTC market capitalization stood at $614.87 billion at press time, a decline of 6.48% over 24 hours. Trading volumes rose 59.23% to $57.62 billion in the same period.

Why Is It Moving? China’s central bank, The People’s Bank of China, instructed the country’s major financial institutions to stop providing trading, clearing and settlement for cryptocurrency transactions, as per a statement, first reported by CoinDesk.

Financial institutions and banks have agreed to fall in line and follow the PBOC’s guidelines, noted CoinDesk.

The latest action from China’s central bank comes after a crackdown by Chinese authorities on mining in the country’s Sichuan province, which is a major cryptocurrency mining center.

The environmental concerns related to Bitcoin mining, brought on by Tesla Inc. TSLA CEO Elon Musk, also likely continue to contribute to the weakness. 

MicroStrategy Inc. MSTR on Monday announced acquiring additional bitcoins, with total holdings now crossing over 105,000 BTC.

Bitcoin’s decline is not isolated, other cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin DOGE/USD have also tanked, with Ethereum ETH/USD falling below the psychologically important $2,000 mark.

Read Next: Dogecoin Bear Barry Silbert Says 99% Of Cryptocurrencies Are Overpriced