London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

Bitcoin Ends Week in Free Fall With China Again Rattling Bulls

Bitcoin Ends Week in Free Fall With China Again Rattling Bulls

Bitcoin is heading into the weekend in freefall again after a fresh warning from Chinese officials over cracking down on cryptocurrencies.
The largest digital currency fell as much as 10% in late Friday trading to as low as $35,636, and peer tokens also posted double-digit losses. The coin almost hit $30,000 earlier in the week, after ending May 14 at $49,100.

The latest blow came when China’s State Council reiterated its call to curtail Bitcoin mining and trading. The crypto market was already rattled earlier in the week by forced selling and possible U.S. tax consequences.

Friday’s selloff hit Bitcoin believers still fuming after onetime proponent Elon Musk did an about-face and criticized the token for its energy usage. Bitcoin is down about 25% since last Friday, though it’s up from a Wednesday plunge to as low as $30,000. Other coins have slumped too -- Ether is down about 38% over the past seven sessions.

The sour stretch started with Musk suspending acceptance of Bitcoin payments at Tesla Inc. and trading barbs with boosters of the cryptocurrency on Twitter. China’s central bank added to the downdraft Tuesday with a statement warning against using virtual currencies. On Thursday, it emerged the U.S. may require crypto transactions of $10,000 or more to be reported to tax authorities.

China has long expressed displeasure with the anonymity provided by Bitcoin and other crypto tokens, and warned earlier that financial institutions weren’t allowed to accept it for payment. The country is home to a large concentration of the world’s crypto miners, who require massive amounts of power and thus run afoul of the nation’s efforts to curb greenhouse-gas emissions.

“The new guidance issued from the regulatory agencies -- they’re taking it more seriously, they want more enforcement,” Bobby Lee, founder and chief executive officer of crypto storage provider Ballet, said in an interview Friday. “There’s talk about going after miners. The question is, can they catch all the miners.”

China’s moves this week highlight the country’s continued desire to seek control over the notoriously volatile asset class. It’s something China would rather see regulated by the People’s Bank of China, market-watchers say.

“It’s not really the mining issue that is the problem,” said Matt Maley, chief market strategist for Miller Tabak + Co. “They say they’re doing this as part of an effort to control risk-taking in their markets, but it’s really a signal that China is not going to be a big market for cryptos unless it’s a PBOC-controlled one.”

In the meantime, volatility in Bitcoin is likely to stay elevated. The selloff Friday once again pushed Bitcoin below its average price over the past 200 days, which to some chartists and technical analysts suggests it could trend lower still to around $30,000, where it found support earlier this week.

This week’s swings have led to huge liquidations by leveraged investors and damaged the narrative that cryptocurrencies will become more stable as the sector matures. Musk’s actions showed how just a few tweets can still upend the entire market. But even moreso, the past few days have renewed the regulatory threat on the crypto market.

“Investors are underestimating the regulatory risk of crypto as governments defend their lucrative monopolies over currency,” said Jay Hatfield, chief executive officer of Infrastructure Capital Advisors in New York. In the U.S., the possible imposition of transaction reporting requirements could be the “tip of the iceberg” of potential Treasury rules on virtual currencies, he said.

As far as regulations in China go, it may be a game of wait and see.

“You must always proceed cautiously with China -- never get too bullish or bearish,” said David Tawil, president of ProChain Capital. “We’ll have to see what the regulation brings. It’s one thing to say, it’s another to do.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
×