Bitcoin dives as China widens crackdown on crypto mining

BEIJING: Bitcoin tumbled more than 10 per cent on Monday after China broadened a crackdown on its massive cryptocurrency mining industry with a ban on mines in a key southwestern province.

Chinese mines power nearly 80 percent of the global trade in cryptocurrencies despite a domestic trading ban since 2017, but in recent months several provinces have ordered mines to close as Beijing turns a sharp eye to the industry.

Authorities in the province of Sichuan ordered the closure of 26 mines last week, according to a notice widely circulated on Chinese social media and confirmed by a former bitcoin miner.