Bitcoin has had a big selloff with the closing of Bitcoin exchanges in China. It did take Bitcoin over 4 years to recover from a 2013 selloff from a peak of just over $1000. Bitcoin did not push to new highs until February of this year. Chinese bitcoin exchange BTCChina said on Thursday that it would stop all trading from Sept. 30.
This set off a further slide in the value of the cryptocurrency that left it over 30 percent away from the record highs it hit earlier in the month.
After BTCChina announced its closure, Chinese news outlet Yicai reported that the country plans to shut down all bitcoin exchanges by the end of September, citing financial sources in Shanghai.
BTCChina said its decision was based on a Sept. 4 directive from Chinese authorities that expressed concern over investment risks involved in cryptocurrencies and ordered a ban on so-called initial coin offerings, or ICOs; the practice of creating and selling digital currencies or tokens to investors to finance start-up projects.