The price of bitcoin plunged Thursday after India announced that it’s implementing a ban on cryptocurrencies — not simply exchanges but all use of cryptocurrencies within its borders.

Bitcoin investors had already been on tenterhooks (or Tether hooks in this case) over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s fraud investigation into leading cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex and related company Tether. Today, they drove the price of bitcoin to its lowest point since late November: $8,646.41 as of 8:45 p.m.. down from $10,128 24 hours earlier.

India’s decision to ban all things cryptocurrency was claimed to be based on illicit use among criminals. “The government does not consider cryptocurrencies legal tender or coin and will take all measures to eliminate use of these cryptoassets in financing illegitimate activities or as part of the payment system,” India’s finance minister Arun Jaitley is quoted as saying on Thursday.

Conversely, India did not rule out embrace blockchain-based technologies, with the minister adding that the government would “explore the use of blockchain technology proactively to speed the move toward a digital economy.”

India has become the first country to ban the use of cryptocurrencies entirely, although that’s somewhat subject to interpretation because many countries never legally recognized cryptocurrencies to begin with, though many tolerate them. In Thailand, for example, cryptocurrencies remain illegal, but the government has licensed cryptocurrency exchanges.

China sits as the only other country potentially moving in the same direction. It first banned initial coin offerings in September, followed by a ban on cryptocurrency exchanges later the same month. A report Jan. 15 claimed that the Middle Kingdom was looking at a further crackdown, including a ban on informal services and apps that provide exchangelike services. South Korea may or may not also be banning cryptocurrency exchanges depending on the direction the wind is blowing on a given day.

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