https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/pkb39z/chinas-major-bitcoin-crackdown-is-accelerating-global-shifts-in-cryptocurrency

Bitcoin has been in the Chinese government’s crosshairs for years now, but a series of new bans on mining and impending restrictions on transacting the cryptocurrency have had a renewed impact across its ecosystem.

In May, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He declared via the Chinese State Council that the country must “crack down on Bitcoin mining and trading behavior” in an effort to “prevent the transmission of individual risks to the social field.” Chinese cryptocurrency restrictions aren’t new, but the comments signaled potentially tightened enforcement ahead.