On Monday, Bitcoin dived more than 10% after China widened a clampdown on its huge crypto mining industry with a ban on mines in a main southwestern province.

Mines in China power nearly 80% of the global trade in crypto in spite of a trading ban since 2017. But in recent months many provinces have ordered mines to shut as Beijing carefully watches the industry.

According to a notice circulated widely on Chinese social media, last week authorities in the province of Sichuan ordered the shutdown of 26 mines. All this has been confirmed by an ex-bitcoin miner.

Bitcoin’s value tumbled to as low as $32,309. In current weeks, the crypto has seen severe hits, reaching a record-breaking high of nearly $65,000 in April. This was partly due to Beijing’s clampdown.

Reportedly the circular guided the power companies to halt supplying electricity to crypto mines by Sunday.

The province represents one of the largest bases for mining in the nation.

The notice vowed a ‘complete clean-up’ and ordered the local government to carry out a ‘dragnet-style investigation’ to locate and shut down suspected crypto mines.

A previous crypto miner told that they had ‘closed everything’ in line with the requirements in current days.

A mountainous area in southwest China, Sichuan is home to a large number of crypto mines, which need a huge amount of energy supplied by the region’s abundant and cheap hydropower.

As per reports, the shutdown of mines in the region has resulted in the closure of more than 90% of the nation’s bitcoin mining ability.