Cryptocurrencies plummeted again after China expanded its crackdown on digital currencies. The People's Bank of China said all cryptocurrency-related transactions are now illegal in the country.

The move also pushed the stock value of crypto companies down, for example, Argo fell by 10%, Northern Data lost 2.5%, Coinbase Global and Robinhood Markets dropped 3.5%, MicroStrategy slipped 6.7% and Marathon Digital slumped by 8.1%.

Accordingly, Bitcoin traded under $ 41,000, while Ethereum plunged 8.9% to $ 2,864.

Markets were clearly pressured by China's tighter grip on sectors ranging from private education to digital gaming. The debt crisis at Evergrande made the situation worse.

Xiadong Bao, fund manager at Edmond de Rothschild, said the government is channeling available liquidity into the real economy. Its overall goal is to lessen speculation in property and crypto, as well as more sustainable development.

In any case, the decision hammered many tokens, including EOS, Litecoin, and Dash. Adam Crisafulli from Vital Knowledge said it is now unideal to invest on Bitcoin because China's attitude towards cryptocurrencies is likely to be accepted by other countries.