Bitcoin has hit a three-month low after a volatile 24-hour run. Volatility is something of a trademark for cryptocurrencies today, but this sudden drop appears to be related to recent statements from top Chinese banks and financial institutions regarding whether bitcoin is a good investment.

Spoiler alert: China thinks otherwise.

Chinese financial institutions announced late Tuesday that they will ban payment companies from "providing services related to cryptocurrency transactions," including trading, clearing, registration, and settlement (via CNBC). While this does not inhibit individuals from owning large amounts of bitcoin, it could prove troublesome for bitcoin investors.

The People's Bank of China also stated that virtual currency "is not a real currency" and "should not and cannot be used as currency in the market," according to a post on its official account on the messaging app WeChat (via Financial Times).

As a result of these statements, bitcoin fell below $40,000 for the first time since February and appears to have crashed, engulfing other popular currencies such as ethereum, popular with GPU miners.

Ethereum's value is now hovering around $2,500, despite being above $4,000 earlier this month (information from CoinDesk).

China has shown disdain for cryptocurrencies as a whole in the past, despite the fact that 75% of global bitcoin mining reportedly takes place within China. The country previously blocked bitcoin exchanges in 2017 and moved to further restrict exchanges and initial coin offering websites in 2019. Today's statement could be seen as a reaffirmation of the country's previous tough stance on the formalization and legalization of cryptocurrencies in its financial institutions.

Bitcoin's value has crashed and Ethereum has stated that it is going to stop GPU mining in the "coming months". Perhaps even more so if the cryptocurrency's profitability really tanks. However, we should not forget that Bitcoin has long since moved away from graphics cards as a means of mining.

But with the financial cliff edge that is Bitcoin's pricing easing a bit in the early hours, it appears that the most popular cryptocurrency may weather the storm.