Recent days have brought headlines about Chinese authorities clamping down on Bitcoin — not wanting various institutions to deal in the digital currency.

The latest is that BTC China, the big Bitcoin startup there, announced that it could no longer accept deposits in the local currency.

This makes sense. One of the big things that everyone was talking about was how Bitcoin made for the perfect tool to circumvent capital controls (restrictions on getting money out of the country).

So Bitcoin is getting crushed. Not that long ago it was above $1,000. Then it settled into around a $900 area, then it dropped to around $700.

Now it's around $500.