Policy

China's Biggest Search Engine Stops Accepting Bitcoins

Move comes after the government banned financial institutions from using the cryptocurrency

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Baidu Inc., China's biggest search engine, stopped accepting Bitcoins after the nation's central bank barred financial institutions from handling transactions, triggering a drop in the virtual currency.

Bitcoin fell more than 20 percent and was quoted at 4,250 yuan ($863) as of 3:25 p.m. Shanghai time on BTC China, the most active online exchange where it's traded. It lost 30 percent to $575 on Bitstamp, another web platform where the digital money is exchanged for dollars and other currencies.