Chinese government officials are announcing plans to continue a crackdown on cryptocurrency trading and speculation.

What Happened

In a statement released on Saturday, the People’s Bank of China says it will “maintain high pressure on virtual currency trading hype.” The central bank has been “severely cracking down on illegal activities of virtual currency” this year and will continue supervising financial platforms operating in the country. Decrypt reports that the statement comes a day after bank officials set priorities for the second half of the year.

Why It’s Important

The statement from the People’s Bank of China comes after officials introduced restrictions on Bitcoin (BITCOMP) mining earlier this year, causing Bitcoin’s hashrate to drop by 76%. Many Chinese miners have relocated to other countries. China has banned financial institutions from cryptocurrency transactions since 2017. The move has prevented cryptocurrency exchanges from operating in the country.

What’s Next

As China continues to escalate restrictions on cryptocurrencies, the country’s central bank has been working on developing its own digital currency. A recent report indicates digital yuan has been used in 70.75 million transactions, reaching a total value of 34.5 billion yuan ($5 billion) by the end of June.