As the Chinese government introduced a policy to strengthen crackdowns on virtual currencies, the prices of representative virtual currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum have fallen.



According to CoinDesk, a cryptocurrency information site, as of 7:30 am today, the price of bitcoin was $42,907.50, down 3.86% from 24 hours ago.



As a result, the market capitalization of the largest bitcoin has also been reduced to $87.51 billion.



Ethereum, the second largest after Bitcoin, was also traded at $2,958.42 at the same time, down 5.82% from 24 hours ago.



Ethereum’s market cap is estimated at $345.8 billion.



Earlier, China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, announced that it would strictly crack down on all kinds of cryptocurrency transactions, defining it as "illegal financial activity."



The People's Bank of China said, "Virtual currency does not have the same legal status as legal currency."



Foreign cryptocurrency exchanges will also be blocked from offering cryptocurrency services to Chinese residents over the Internet, he added.