The price of fell sharply after a report China's regulators are planning a further crackdown on the digital currency.



Local outlet Caixin is reporting the Asian country is planning to shut down local bitcoin exchanges, according to a Google translation.

Bitcoin's price fell 7 percent midafternoon Friday after the news, according to Coindesk market data.



On Monday, Chinese regulators announced a ban on organizations from raising funds using initial coin offerings (ICOs), which sparked a $200 decline in the price of bitcoin.

The price of the cryptocurrency is still up nearly 350 percent year to date.

But billionaire investor Howard Marks is not impressed, telling his clients Thursday he will not invest in bitcoin even though it can be used as a legitimate form of currency.

"I think I understand what a digital currency is, how bitcoin works, and some of the arguments for it. But I still don't feel like putting my money into it, because I consider it a speculative bubble," Marks wrote in an investor letter.