Chinese police officers have confiscated nearly $4 million in various cryptocurrencies after a raid against several developers that operated a decentralized gambling app built on the EOS blockchain.

$3.8 Million in Crypto Seized

After receiving tips of suspected illegal activity involving the developers of the dApp called Biggame, the Jiangsu police department opened an investigation. Ultimately, this led to the arrest of 15 people.

During the raid, the authorities found and seized 1.3 million units of EOS and BTC. Converted in fiat currencies, this amount equals 26 million yuan or $3.8 million.

According to the report, this is the first criminal case the police solved in connection with illegal online gambling inside China.

The dApp’s structure allowed it to attract players to games such as Dice and Texas Hold’em. The customers placed their bets using EOS smart contracts.

The Chinese officials reported that in the period between June 2018 and December 2020, the group behind the dApp allegedly gained profits from the operations with crypto assets worth 60 million yuan or about $10 million.

It’s not the first time Chinese police go after fraud related to blockchain-based applications and platforms. As reported last year, the authorities arrested 109 people connected with the cryptocurrency pyramid scheme PlusToken. The well-known Ponzi scheme has defrauded investors of more than $5.7 billion.

”Internet Cleansing Movement”

The biggest economy in Asia – China – appears to be one of the leading countries regarding cryptocurrency mining and distribution but has also had tons of experience with illicit activities coming within its borders.

The arrest in Jiangsu highlights the Chinese law enforcement’s goal to neutralize any illegal online activities – from gambling and telecommunication fraud to money laundering. The mission was referred to as ”Internet cleansing movement.”

Furthermore, the end of last year saw an increasing number of court rulings in this field. According to the officials, nearly 100 individuals have been convicted for laundering money via crypto deals that involved more than $30 million worth of the most widely utilized stablecoin – Tether (USDT).

The enhanced volatility in the past day caused nearly $10 billion in liquidations in less than a day as bitcoin, and all altcoins fell hard. Naturally, over 90% of the liquidated amount came from long positions. 

• CryptoPotato reported earlier today the adverse price developments in the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin fell by more than $9,000 in hours, Ethereum lost $400, and so on. With most digital assets plummeting by double-digits, the cumulative market cap lost $360 billion at one point. 
• As it generally happens, the community speculated for possible reasons. One theory outlined rumors indicating that the US Treasury Department plans to charge numerous financial institutions for laundering money using cryptocurrencies. 

• While the reason is still debated, the severe price drops caused pain for traders. Data from Bybt shows a whopping amount of $9.98 billion liquidated in the past 24 hours alone. Somewhat expectedly, over $9 billion were from long positions – meaning 91%.  
• Most of the liquidations took place on Binance, which is somewhat expected as it’s the leading exchange by volume. Following were Huobi and Bybit.
• More interestingly, the largest single liquidation order happened on Binance and it had a face value of a whopping $68.73 million.

Bitcoin dumped 12.5% in a matter of hours over the weekend sliding from $61,450 in late trading on Saturday to bottom out at $53,750 the following day according to Tradingview.

Monday morning Asian trading has seen the asset recover somewhat but analysts are looking at what may have caused the cascade that resulted in $10 billion in liquidations.

Some have suggested that rumors regarding the U.S. Treasury Department charging several financial organizations for laundering money with cryptocurrencies may have caused the crash. Others have looked on-chain to seek answers there and it appears that hash rates also plunged before the markets did.

Power Related Bitcoin Hash Crash

Analyst and chart guru Willy Woo noted that the single largest one-day drop in mining hash rate since November 2017 occurred on April 17. He added that the hash rate on the network essentially halved, causing mayhem in BTC price as it crashed.

The plunge was also recorded by Bitinfocharts which observed a fall from an almost peak average hash rate of 157.58 EH/s to 105.43 EH/s – its lowest level since December 2020.

#marketupdate, breaking it down, post mortem.

We just saw the single largest 1-day drop in mining hash rate since Nov 2017. The hash rate on the network essentially halved, causing mayhem in BTC price as it crashed. pic.twitter.com/zzdgDikjXt

— Willy Woo (@woonomic) April 18, 2021

Woo attributed the hash crash to a power outage in Xinjiang province, one of the dominant areas for Bitcoin mining operations. He added that this was known before the BTC price crash on the 18th, citing local news on the 15th.

He stated that 9,000 BTC was sent into Binance on April 16 in light of this news, adding:

“I’d note that Binance serves volume from Asia more than the West. It’s likely this was sent in from a whale with closer knowledge to happenings in China.”

Woo added that the selling pressure of these two events combined was enough to tip the price below liquidation levels around $59K which triggered a cascade of automatic sell-offs as stop losses were hit.

Strong holders bought into that dip which has since recovered around $4,000 since the bottom on Sunday.

Monday Morning Market Recovery

At the time of press, Bitcoin had recovered to $57,500 during Asian trading but a slight pullback saw the asset change hands at a little under $57,000 a few hours later.

Fundamentally, markets are still very strong and this minor on-chain blip wasn’t enough to rouse the bears. Over $10 billion has been added back into total market capitalization since the dip pushing it back over $2 trillion.

China is a country well-known for its support toward the ‘blockchain not bitcoin’ narrative. The country attempted to clamp down on cryptocurrencies more than once, but it appears that it’s now softening its stance, even taking a somewhat positive approach towards Bitcoin.

Bitcoin as an Alternative Investment Tool

Speaking at the Boao Forum for Asia on April 18th, the former central bank governor of China, Zhou Xiaochuan, and the current central bank deputy governor Li Bo opined on the matter of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.

We believe that crypto assets should play a major role in the future, either as an investment tool or as an alternative investment. Many countries, including China, are also studying it as an investment tool.”

Adding to the matter, Zhou Xiaochuan said that people don’t necessarily need to know whether the technology behind digital currencies is centralized or decentralized because “ordinary people don’t necessarily understand what the system behind it is like.” He also ascertained that whatever the case may be, digital currencies must not be used for illicit activities such as money laundering, tax evasion, drug or weapon trafficking, or gambling.

Furthermore, Li Bo said that bitcoin, as well as stablecoins, are “encrypted assets” and that they are an investment option but not a currency.

If it is used as an investment tool, many countries, including China, are also studying what kind of regulatory environment should there be for such an investment method. Although this regulatory  rule is the minimum regulatory rule, there are still regultory rules.”

The high-ranked official doubled down on the importance of legislation which ensures that “speculation in such assets will not cause serious financial risks.” Ultimately, despite the hints of a more positive approach towards bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, Bo said they would continue to maintain the current measures and practices.

Positive Market Reaction

Yesterday we saw a serious market-wide crash throughout all cryptocurrencies. As CryptoPotato reported, bitcoin dipped below $52,000, Ether went below $2,000, and so forth, resulting in more than $10 billion worth of liquidations across the board.

Today, however, things are looking brighter. The majority of cryptocurrencies are on the path of recovery, with BTC testing $58K already.

ETH is trading at around $2,250, BNB reclaimed $500, while other large- and mid-cap altcoins also chart substantial increases.