Bitcoin has dipped below $30,000 for the first time since late January as China’s latest crackdown on cryptocurrencies takes its toll.

A fall of more than 7% took the token’s value to just above $29,000 in Tuesday trading, adding to a fall of 10% seen a day earlier.

Losses of nearly 30% in the last week alone have almost wiped out gains for the year to date.

It was sparked by China’s central bank urging the country’s largest banks and payment firms to crack down harder on trading in cryptocurrencies.

Exchanges for buying and selling the assets had already effectively been pushed out of the country in 2017 but now “over the counter” platforms which could buy and sell them on people’s behalf also face a clampdown, experts said.

Following Monday’s statement by the People’s Bank of China, major financial firms said they would step up monitoring to root out crypto transactions.

Anthony Wong of Hong Kong-based crypto firm Orichal Partners told Reuters news agency: “We are definitely in the midst of a correction.

“This time China’s iron-fist ban on crypto seems to be more serious than back in 2017 as the directive came straight from the top.”

Authorities in Beijing had already been talking about tightening restrictions on Bitcoin trading and mining – the energy-intensive computer process used to generate new coins.

Bitcoin, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency, hit a record high of $65,000 earlier this year but fell back on fears over regulation in China and Tesla boss Elon Musk’s reversal of a decision to allow the electric car maker to accept payments in the cryptocurrency.

That sent it down towards $30,000 and it rallied again to more than $40,000, before the latest fall.

Figures last week from the Financial Conduct Authority show an estimated 2.3 million UK adults now hold cryptoassets such as Bitcoin, a rise of 400,000 on the previous year – despite warnings of the risks involved.

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has previously expressed concerns about cryptocurrencies, saying people should only invest in them if they are prepared to lose all their money.

Earlier this month, El Salvador became the first country to approve of the use of Bitcoin as legal tender.

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