China has extended its iron-fisted crackdown on using and trading bitcoin to the industry that oversees the mining of new cryptocurrency tokens.
The new steps from Beijing were unveiled late on Friday. They roiled crypto markets over the weekend and pushed crypto miners to suspend some business in China, creating uncertainty about a critical step in the process needed to put more of these coins in circulation.
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He told a group of finance officials on Friday that the government would "clamp down on bitcoin mining and trading activity" as part of its goal to achieve financial stability. The government didn't elaborate on specific policies targeting mining or trading.
While China has taken steps to restrict the use of cryptocurrencies for years, the focus on "mining" is new. The presence of Liu and other high-ranking cabinet members at the meeting, along with steps taken earlier last week to widen a clampdown on cryptos, indicate that the Chinese government is getting more aggressive about its approach.
China accounts for more than 75% of bitcoin mining around the world.
