Photo:IC

BTCChina, China's first and longest-running cryptocurrency exchange, announced it is leaving the cryptocurrency trading business in response to the country's latest policy, China's financial media 21jingji.com reported. 

BTCChina's share of Singaporean cryptocurrency exchange ZG.COM was bought by an encryption foundation in Dubai, though detailed terms of the deal were not revealed, according to media reports. 

Founded in 2011 in Shanghai, BTCChina is one of the leading digital asset trading platforms in the world. 

Bitcoin price dropped below $30,000 on Tuesday, the lowest level since January 28. 

The drop came after China's central bank issued an order on Monday to the country's major financial institutions to stop facilitating crypto transactions. 

The People's Bank of China held talks on Monday with a number of Chinese banks and payment institutions on cryptocurrency trading speculation, asking them to screen capital accounts of cryptocurrency exchanges and over-the-counter dealers, and cut relevant payment links in what is said to be a thorough clean-up of cryptocurrency transactions in the country. 

Earlier, many Bitcoin mines in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, one of China's largest cryptocurrency mining bases, were closed as of Sunday after local authorities ordered to halt mining in the region on Friday amid an intensified nationwide crackdown against cryptocurrency mining.