Chinese State-run Newspaper Calls Bitcoin 'Worthless,' Says It's Heading Towards Zero

The world's least crypto-friendly nation China has again bombarded cryptocurrency, this time targeting Bitcoin specifically.

As cryptocurrencies reel under the global downturn and witness a bloodbath, Chinese state-run newspaper Economic Daily has warned investors that the price of leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin is "heading to zero," reported IANS.

shutterstock

The warning came as the cryptocurrency market continued to face a meltdown with Bitcoin hovering around the $21,000 mark, which is a substantial drop from its record high of $68,000 just about eight months ago in November 2021.

"Bitcoin is nothing more than a string of digital codes, and its returns mainly come from buying low and selling high," the newspaper said.

"In the future, once investors' confidence collapses or when sovereign countries declare bitcoin illegal, it will return to its original value, which is utterly worthless," it added, reports South China Morning Post.

For the uninitiated, the Chinese government banned Bitcoin mining in July last year. The country banned all cryptocurrency transactions last September and barred foreign crypto exchanges from operating within the country in 2018.

That's not all.

In February 2022, a ruling by China¡¯s top court stated that you can attract a hefty penalty and land in jail for over 10 years due to cryptocurrency fundraising, which is now a criminal offence in China, as per a report in South China Morning Post.

shutterstock

Also Read: China To Create Its Own 'NFT Industry', But Not Related to Cryptocurrency

The court¡¯s ruling reportedly stated that suspects will be prosecuted under Article 176 of China's criminal law, which stipulates prison sentences between three to 10 years, besides levying fines between RMB 50,000 (US$7,900) and RMB 500,000 ($79,000) for crimes involving large sums of money.

Whereas, ¡®less serious¡¯ crimes will be prosecuted with under three years of prison and RMB 20,000 ($3,160) to RMB 200,000 ($31,600) in fines, as per the criminal law.

All this comes as the nation has plans to launch its central bank digital currency (CBDC) called the digital Chinese yuan (e-CNY).

As per the IANS report, the Economic Daily had earlier justified China's ban on cryptocurrency trading by taking examples of the collapse of stablecoins terraUSD and luna whose value reached zero.

According to analysts, Bitcoin may reportedly hit a grim $14,000 this year. The likely bottom range at $14,000 would represent a drop of around 80% for Bitcoin from the $68,000 all-time high.

According to Coindesk, Bitcoin has historically experienced periods of asymptotic price run-ups followed by steep crashes, "typically played out over several months to two years". Cryptocurrency watchers refer to these periods as "cycles".

Also Read: How 'Millionaire Yang' Became China's First Stock Trading Hero

For the latest and interesting financial news, keep reading Indiatimes Worth. Click here.