Beijing (AFP)

Bitcoin plunged below the symbolic $ 40,000 mark on Wednesday, a first in more than three months, after a wake-up call in China against cryptocurrencies.

Around 09:40 GMT, the main cryptocurrency lost 7% to 40,230 dollars.

Since the start of last week when it was still worth over $ 55,000, its price has dropped 30%.

Cryptocurrencies "are not real currencies," said several benchmark Chinese banking federations on Wednesday, warning against "speculation" in a country which is also preparing its own digital currency.

China was once one of the strongholds of bitcoin, the most widespread of virtual currencies.

Beijing however took a radical turn in 2019 by making cryptocurrency payments illegal in the country, accused of being an instrument in the service of "criminal activities".

The Asian country was worried about the speculative risks that cryptocurrencies posed to its financial system as well as to social stability.

On the other hand, bitcoin mining activities and the holding of virtual currency on an individual basis are tolerated.

At a time when interest in virtual currencies abroad is growing, three banking federations on Tuesday called on financial institutions "not to accept [...] or use cryptocurrencies" as a means of payment.

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"Recently, the prices of virtual currencies have soared and then collapsed" abroad, while speculative activities "have jumped", they noted in a joint statement.

This "seriously undermines the security of people's property and disrupts the world economic order," criticized the National Internet Finance Federation, the China Banking Federation and the Payment and Compensation Federation.

-Volte-face of Tesla-

Interest in cryptocurrencies around the world has indeed jumped since the end of 2020. Driven by the interest of increasingly serious investors, from institutional banks on Wall Street to certain giants of Silicon Valley, the cryptocurrency market swelled to more than $ 2.5 trillion at its peak in mid-May, according to the Coinmarketcap site, which lists nearly 10,000 cryptocurrencies.

But since then, the market has melted by nearly $ 700 billion, and suffers in particular from the about-face of Elon Musk: the boss of the electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla and founder of Paypal, who vehemently defended bitcoin on social networks , seems to have changed my mind.

After announcing at the beginning of the year that it had invested part of Tesla's cash in bitcoin, the very media multibillionaire decided in mid-May to refuse payments in bitcoin for his electric vehicles, citing in particular the environmental risk caused by the mining bitcoin.

"I don't know if Elon has any information we don't have, but the risk of tightening regulation has increased since the Colonial Pipeline pipeline company paid a huge ransom in cryptocurrency," he said. 'reported several American media, commented Jeffrey Halley, analyst at Oanda.

The Chinese regulator is not alone in worrying about the soaring cryptocurrency market: its counterparts in Europe or the United States have called on investors to be cautious, without however prohibiting transactions.

China is also accelerating preparations to launch its own virtual currency, which will be issued and supervised by the central bank.

Chinese digital currency, the future means of electronic payment on smartphones to replace coins and banknotes, could make its debut in 2022 during the Beijing Winter Olympics.

© 2021 AFP