Bitcoin, Ether slide amid China mining crackdown: Here’s what you need to know

Bitcoin dropped over the weekend amid a focus on Chinese mine closures and potential regulatory scrutiny.

The largest cryptocurrency fell 5.5% to $34,142 as of 10:50 a.m. Sunday in New York, dropping for a fourth time in the past five sessions. Ether, the second-biggest, declined 5.9% to $2,095.

The hashrate in China is dropping significantly as Bitcoin mines are being closed, Jonathan Cheesman, head of over-the-counter and institutional sales at crypto-derivatives exchange FTX wrote in an email Saturday, citing reports on Twitter from handle @bigmagicdao.

“Longer term most see hashrate moving out of China as positive but in the near term may have/has already resulted in inventory sales,” Cheesman said.