By: Noha El-Nahas

Mubsher: The digital currencies incurred a grave loss on Tuesday after a senior official at China's central bank said the government should escalate its restrictions on virtual currency trading.

By 11:34 am GMT, bitcoin fell by 12.87% to $12,116.10, approaching its lowest level in six weeks, while its market capitalisation reached $203.6 billion after retreating below $200 billion.

Meanwhile, Ethereum declined 16.96% to $1,096.20, and Ripple dropped 24.06 to $1.38.

Cryptocurrencies' total market cap decreased significantly to around $578 billion.

“Authorities should ban centralized trading of virtual currencies as well as individuals and businesses that provide related services,” Reuters reported earlier, citing a Chinese central banker.

Deputy governor of the People's Bank of China Pan Gongsheng asserted that the government would tighten its ban on digital currency trading and prevent its negative effect on the market.

Translated by: Mahmoud El-Zahwey