Bitcoin drops toward $60,000 as major cryptocurrencies plunge. Be very Careful with this stuff

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies fell sharply on Tuesday retreating from near-record highs.

The world’s largest digital coin fell toward $60,000 during late morning trade Singapore time.

China’s state planner said Tuesday that it will continue to clean up virtual currency mining in the country.

Earlier this year, China cracked down on bitcoin mining leading to an exodus of miners. Mining is the energy-intensive process which both creates new coins and maintains a log of all transactions of existing digital tokens.

Beijing is concerned about the amount of energy being used by mining.

Mining “causes large energy consumption and carbon emission. It has no active impact to lead industry development or scientific progress,” NDRC spokesperson Meng Wei said on Tuesday, according to a CNBC translation of her Mandarin comments.

The NDRC said it will focus on state-owned companies involved in cryptocurrency mining. It also said it is considering imposing “punitive electricity prices” against those participating in cryptocurrency mining activities but paying a residential electricity price.

China’s authorities have been focusing on wiping out bitcoin mining since earlier this year.

cnbc