Bitcoin’s price fell 8% today following ‘breakout’ news (read: several weeks old) that the People’s Bank of China, or PBoC, declared all transactions illegal of cryptocurrency. With that in mind, let’s take a nostalgic look at the past 12 years of FUD outside of China and see if we can spot any trends. China first banned “virtual currencies” in 2009 1: Chinese regulators weren’t exactly crypto advocates before the ICO boom of 2017. When cryptocurrencies were still in their infancy, that is, in 2009, the Chinese Ministry of Culture and the Commerce Department have banned the use of “virtual currency” for trading in real world goods. While not specifically targeting Bitcoin (BTC), this move apparently set a precedent for more than a decade of anti-crypto regulations. The first Bitcoin-specific ban struck in 2013 2: In 2013, the People’s Bank of China, or PBoC, blocked Chinese financial institutions from processing BTC transactions and called crypto a currency of “no real meaning.” The news caused the price of BTC to drop below $ 1,000 at a time when BTC China, or BTCC, was the largest crypto exchange by volume. The asset took shape in a few weeks. False threats of ban tormented 2014 2014 taught us that false reports from PBoC regulators are sometimes just as effective as the real ones. 3: In March, a fake news posted on Sina Weibo’s website claimed that China’s central bank plans to stop all Bitcoin transactions in the country from less than a month away. While the report turned out to be absurd, that hasn’t stopped the price of Bitcoin from falling. 4: At around the same time, the China-based crypto exchange FXBTC said it would shut down amid threats from regulators to ban exchanges. A combination of the two incidents may have been responsible for Bitcoin’s drop from $ 709 to $ 346. While it is true that it is bloody, the price started to recover quickly and returned above $ 600 at the end of May. Chinese exchange hack briefly knocked prices down in 2016 5: Although not directly controlled by China, the leading Hong Kong-based crypto exchange Bitfinex fell victim to one of the biggest hacks in August 2016. Attackers stole around 119,756 BTC – worth over $ 5 billion at time of publication – and some of the funds are still tracked to this day. At the time, news of the exchange’s major hack reportedly caused the price of BTC to drop by more than 10% in two days. However, by September, prices had returned to their pre-hack levels. In 2017, China twice dropped crypto-related bans in a single month 6 & 7: In September, the Chinese government officially banned exchanges from serving users in the country, and the PBoC announced that Chinese citizens would not be allowed to fund initial coin offerings. It took Bitcoin three months to go from $ 4,000 to a record price of around $ 20,000 at the time. 8 & 9: The cryptocurrency was heading for one of its biggest bullish races of all time when the BTCC said it was closing amid the government’s “ban” (it is still in effect) and the sub -PBoC governor claimed that “Bitcoin’s body” would one day float on the river. . Crypto was already recovering at this point and saw only minor declines. Media reports led to a short crisis of crypto faith in 2018 ten: In January 2018, reports circulated that Chinese nationals may have caused a collapse in the prices of major cryptocurrencies. 11: Although many argued the drop was due to Chinese media reports, which claimed the country was cracking down on crypto mining. By mid-February, the price of Bitcoin had fallen more than 65% to $ 6,852. It didn’t last long though; the price had returned to over $ 11,000 by the end of the month. FUD raged in 2019 12: The price of Bitcoin dipped slightly in April 2019, as a draft by China’s National Development and Reform Commission revealed that the government body was once again considering banning mining in the country. 13: The PBoC followed up on the move by announcing that cryptocurrency trading would be “wiped out immediately” upon discovery. Despite a brief pullback in prices, new all-time highs would soon be on the horizon. China reportedly behind 2020 ‘crypto bloodbath’ 14: The March 2020 “crypto bloodbath”, in which the price of almost all major tokens plummeted at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, was believed to have been largely caused by Chinese miners who liquidated their holdings. Related: Bitcoin price drops to $ 32.5,000 on new ‘consistent’ Chinese FUD 15: The Hong Kong government has announced plans to ban crypto retailing as part of its efforts to fight money laundering in November 2020. COVID’s first year ended with Bitcoin breaking through the $ 20,000 barrier for the first time in three years, hitting an all-time high of over $ 30,000 before the end of 2020. FUD comes to the present day 16: The National Internet Finance Association of China, the China Banking Association, and the China Payment and Clearing Association issued a statement warning against investing in cryptocurrencies given the potential risks in May 2021. 17: The following month, the PBoC ordered Chinese banks and mobile payment service providers not to provide banking and settlement services to customers engaged in crypto-related transactions. 18: This brings us to today, when the PBoC once again declared that all cryptocurrency transactions in China are illegal. Total number of times China FUD failed to kill crypto: 18 Including today’s post from the PBoC, there were 11 posts coming directly from Chinese and Hong Kong regulators enforcing or hinting at enforcing a ban on crypto, trading or trading. mining, 7 major incidents of fake news or media coverage outside of China otherwise influencing the crypto markets and a handful of other incidents, such as hacks and decisions of crypto companies in the country, that sparked drops. In total, since 2009, China has “banned” or otherwise provoked FUD in the crypto space more than 18 times. Data from UKTN Markets Pro shows the price of Bitcoin has fallen more than 5% in the past 24 hours, but is currently back above $ 43,000 at the time of publication. Jeffrey Albus contributed research and editorial content for this story.
