Many predicted this would happen: At the first sign that China would move to block free bitcoin trading, the value of the virtual currency tumbled to about 2,300 yuan ($380). Escalating matters further, the website of the People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, came under attack promptly after the move, and local media speculate that angry bitcoin investors are behind it.
BTC China, now the world’s biggest bitcoin exchange by trading volume, on Wednesday announced that it was forced to stop accepting deposits in renminbi, the Chinese currency whose singular unit is the yuan, the New York Timesreported.
“For reasons we all know, BTC China has had to cease renminbi-account charging functions,” the exchange said in the announcement, which was made on its verified account on Weibo, China’s microblogging platform. It said that it would continue operating and that deposits denominated in bitcoins as well as renminbi withdrawals would be unaffected.
Another move against bitcoins came less than two weeks ago, just after the currency reached its high of more than $1,000, when the central bank, along with four other government agencies, banned Chinese financial institutions from dealing in bitcoins.
