12.09.201701:52:00UTC+00Bitcoin Prices Slide on Reports of China Shuttering Local Exchanges

China's crackdown on cryptocurrencies has reportedly taken a new route- to shutter domestic bitcoin exchanges.

Early reports from Chinese media that the government plans to close down local digital currency exchanges caused the digital currency to decline by more than $100 since Friday. The country is looking to shutter cryptocurrency exchanges as well, as Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal.

According to Coindesk data, the digital currency slumped to a low of $4,241 in late trading in the U.K. Friday last week, and hit a new low of $4,109 on Monday.

It rose to a historic high of $5, 000 more than a week ago, and has surged by almost 350 percent since the start of 2017.

The most recent reported crackdown comes after a decision by Chinese financial authorities, and the People's Bank of China to illegalize initial coin offerings. ICOs are a fundraising strategy by selling new digital tokens. While a crackdown on ICOs would not impact the original Bitcoin directly, but the digital currency still fell over $1, 000 in a span of three days.