BEIJING (AP) — One of China's biggest bitcoin exchanges says it will stop trading at the end of the month following reports regulators have ordered all Chinese exchanges for the digital currency to close.

BTC China said on its website it was acting "in the spirit of" a central bank order last week that banned initial coin offerings. It gave no indication it had been directly ordered to close.

Interest in China in bitcoin surged last year as the currency's price rose. But trading dwindled after regulators tightened controls and warned the currency might be linked to fraud.

News reports Thursday said regulators had given verbal instructions to Chinese bitcoin exchanges to close. The central bank has not responded to questions about the currency's future in China.