Crackdown Turns China From Bitcoin’s Epicenter to a Wasteland

(Bloomberg) -- China’s clampdown on cryptocurrencies appears to have succeeded.

Yuan-denominated trading in Bitcoin has dropped to below 1 percent of the global volume, according to China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency, which cited the country’s central bank. China accounted for the majority of trading in Bitcoin before the government shut down the nation’s cryptocurrency exchanges last year.

Japan, which introduced a licensing system for digital-asset venues in 2017, is now taking over China’s role as a cryptocurrency trading hub. The yen accounts for more than 44 percent of global volume, according to CryptoCompare.com.

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.