Bitcoin tumbles below $40,000 and other coins slide after China signals a crypto crackdown, wiping $280 billion off the market

Bitcoin tumbles below $40,000 and other coins slide after China signals a crypto crackdown, wiping $280 billion off the market

And other digital currencies plunged on Wednesday after the People's Bank of China digital tokens can't be used as a form of payment by financial institutions. An overall drop in the value of digital assets at one point wiped $280 billion from the entire market. Bitcoin fell below $40,000 for the first time in 14 weeks to trade around $39,585, fell 18% to $426, fell 17% to 40 cents, and Ethereum's fell 15% to $2,930. Virtual currencies shouldn't be used in the market as they are not supported by real value, three Chinese payment industries said on Tuesday. Bitcoin continued its week-long slide first sparked by Elon Musk's climate-related concerns over its mining process. Billionaire Mike Novogratz predicted somewhere between $40,000 and $50,000 for up to six weeks after Musk's criticism of its energy use. Tesla's cars are powered by electricity made from coal and gas, while bitcoin mining is an energy-intensive process that is said to consume more electricity annually than the . JPMorgan said in a note on Tuesday institutional investors seem to be shifting away from bitcoin, and moving back into traditional . This indicates a reversal of the trend seen over the past six months. "It