Taobao bans sale of bitcoin and mining equipment

Taobao, China's biggest online shopping platform will ban the sale of crypto-currencies including Bitcoin and related mining equipment from January 14, according to a statement released on Tuesday. Banned items include virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, Litecoin and Beaocoin, equipment used for mining bitcoins and related tutorials. Bitcoin dropped in value by 15 percent from 5759 yuan to 4849 yuan as of 7 am, Wednesday following the statement. Taobao is currently one of the few places in China where bitcoins are sold. According to QQ.com, people mainly use the website to purchase mining machines, which are a main way of acquiring bitcoins. China Central Bank asked the third party payment platform to stop the sale of virtual currencies last month after releasing a warning against the security of Bitcoin.