Bitcoin's price has plummeted today after China's biggest exchange said that it is no longer accepting renminbi deposits.
BTC China used the Weibo social media site to tell users: "For reasons we all know, BTC China has had to cease renminbi-account charging functions".
Bitcoin's value on the exchange plunged on the news, dropping by more than 56% at the time of writing, according to Bitcoin Charts. On MT Gox, the most popular exchange outside of China, the crypto-currency's value is down 36% to $540.
Earlier this month China's central bank ruled that bitcoin is not a proper currency and banned financial institutions from handling it but said that individuals were free to trade it.
However, Chinese news reports claim that the central bank met with the country's third party payments processing currencies and ordered them to stop all transactions involving bitcoin and other virtual currencies.