(PresidentialWire.com)- On Friday, the People’s Bank of China announced that, in an effort to ensure national security and stability, all online services offering trading for cryptocurrencies, along with overseas cryptocurrency exchanges are now strictly banned in China.
This decision comes after several other regulatory changes Beijing has enacted in recent months in hopes to cut down on its competition with the digital tokens.
In Friday’s move, China also pledged to stamp out cryptocurrency mining throughout the country.
Not surprisingly, Beijing’s sweeping changes sent every major digital asset into a nosedive.
Bitcoin plunged over 6 percent, dropping to about $41,000 on Friday. Ethereum lost nearly 9 percent of its value, dropping to below $2,800. And Ripple sank by over 8 percent on Friday morning.
The stock for companies that facilitate cryptocurrency transactions also took a hit over China’s announcement. Shares in Robinhood were trading down 3 percent. Coinbase’s stock declined 3.15 percent.
Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey, the ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee slammed China over what he called its “authoritarian crackdown” on cryptocurrencies. But he added that it presents a major opportunity for the United States and “a reminder of our huge structural advantage over China.”
Toomey took to Twitter to point out that Beijing is so hostile to economic freedom that they can’t tolerate the Chinese people “participating in what is arguably the most excited innovation in finance in decades.”
In his tweet, Toomey argued that faster growth is spurred through economic liberty, “and ultimately, a higher standard of living for all.”
While China’s repeated actions against cryptocurrency are worth noting, perhaps Senator Toomey should pay more attention to his fellow Banking Committee member, Democrat Senator Elizabeth Warren.
Warren would love to have the kind of power China has to control the cryptocurrency market. In April, Beijing enacted a number of regulatory moves cracking down on Bitcoin mining. This is precisely what Senator Warren wants to do as well. In June, Warren condemned the very existence of Bitcoin, claiming that the data mining involved in creating and securing Bitcoin is a threat to the planet.
