China's central bank declares cryptocurrency transactions are illegal

China has been continuously cracking down on cryptocurrency but this new step is the biggest yet -- with China's central bank clamping down on crypto harder than ever before.

The People's Bank of China has said that services that offer trading, order matching, token issuance, and derivatives for virtual currencies are now strictly prohibited. Oh, you thought you could live in China and trade crypto overseas? Nope, that's also illegal.

China now considers cryptocurrency transactions as criminal financial activity, with China's central bank to "resolutely curb the hype of virtual currency transactions, severely crack down on illegal financial activities and illegal criminal activities related to virtual currencies, protect the safety of the people's property in accordance with the law, and make every effort to maintain economic and financial order and social stability".

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China started pushing Bitcoin miners earlier this year, which saw gigantic fluctuations in the market -- not just in the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but moving Bitcoin mining hardware around the world and out of China where it was getting banned.