Official Chinese national news media outlet warns readers that Bitcoin could go to zero value in order to dissuade them from investing in and using cryptocurrency.

The Chinese government has capitalized on the violent downturn in the crypto market by warning crypto investors that Bitcoin (BTC) prices are “heading to zero.” 

The South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday that the Chinese national news media agency Economic Daily had issued a warning about the largest cryptocurrency by market cap to further dissuade citizens from adopting the use of crypto.

The Economic Daily report says the west is to blame for creating a highly-leveraged market that is “full of manipulation and pseudo-technology concepts,” which it said was an “important external factor” which contributes to Bitcoin’s volatility.

“Bitcoin is nothing more than a string of digital codes, and its returns mainly come from buying low and selling high,” said the newspaper:

“In the future, once investors’ confidence collapses or when sovereign countries declare Bitcoin illegal, it will return to its original value, which is utterly worthless.”

The Chinese government banned Bitcoin mining last July and has grand plans to launch its central bank digital currency (CBDC) called the digital Chinese yuan (e-CNY) nationwide. It banned all cryptocurrency transactions last September and infamously banned foreign crypto exchanges from operating within the country in 2018.

The Chinese Government isn’t the only one weighing in with predictions about where they see Bitcoin’s price going.

On Monday, founder and CEO of market analysis firm DeMark Analytics Tom DeMark told Marketwatch he believes the crypto market is in line for prolonged price reductions because BTC has fallen below 50% from its November peak of $69,000:

“Such breakdowns bespeak a high probability that recovery to the all-time Bitcoin highs will require many years, if not decades, to accomplish.”

However, there is still a chance for it to bounce back into the $40,000 range within the next few months he said:

“This does not negate the prospect of up to 50-56% recovery over upcoming months which implies bitcoin rally back to $40,000-$45,000.”