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You have nine days left to buy Bitcoin mining machines from Alibaba.

From October 8, in a move that rattled the already spooked Bitcoin market, the Chinese e-commerce giant will stop selling all crucial cryptocurrency equipment.

Alibaba's sudden announcement came several days after the People's Bank of China reissued and reinforced its Bitcoin ban, stating all cryptocurrency-related business activities are illegal and vowing to clamp down on digital currencies.

READ MORE: The cryptocurrencies most at risk of an Evergrande collapse

In a statement yesterday, Alibaba said it would delist Bitcoin mining equipment offers from its platforms and prohibit sales from October 8.

"Alibaba.com will prohibit the sale of virtual currency miners in addition to the prohibition against selling virtual currencies such as Bitcoin … which include but are not limited to: hardware and software used to obtain virtual currencies such as Bitcoin miners," the company said.

Even items such as tutorials, strategies, and software for obtaining virtual currencies such as tutorials on mining will no longer be listed and sold on the Alibaba platform.

Bitcoin fell sharply after the People's Bank of China and Alibaba announcements, today trading at US$42,000.

In April, Bitcoin was nudging an all-time high of $64,000.

READ MORE: The German hamster trading cryptocurrency better than humans

China's crypto crackdown

The announcements are the latest in a series of tough measures from China on cryptocurrencies.

In May, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He told a group of finance officials that the government would "clamp down on Bitcoin mining and trading activity" as part of its goal to achieve financial stability.

And finance and banking watchdogs said that financial institutions and payment companies should not participate in any transactions related to cryptocurrency, nor should they provide crypto-related services to their clients.

The measures aren't just about curtailing financial risk.

The computers needed for Bitcoin mining eat up a ton of computing power and electricity, raising concerns about the cost to the environment.

China was on track to generate more than 130 million metric tons of carbon emissions by 2024, according to a Nature Communications study.

READ MORE: Alibaba founder breaks 'missing' rumours

That's more than the total annual carbon emissions output from the Czech Republic and Qatar in 2016.

That kind of output is also disastrous for China's ambitious climate plans.

President Xi Jinping has vowed to make his country carbon neutral by 2060, and the country is already struggling to contain carbon emissions from other industries.

– Reported with CNN

A Victoria Police officer has been suspended from duty as police investigate a video of a man being slammed to the ground during an arrest at a Melbourne train station during last week's protests.

The video, which began circulating on social media on Thursday, appears to show a police officer approaching a man, who is talking to other officers, and tackling him to the ground at Flinders Street Station.

A loud noise can be heard as the man hits the station's tiled floor.

READ MORE: Victoria marks highest ever COVID-19 tally

According to Victoria Police, the video was filmed last Wednesday.

"Victoria Police continues to investigate an incident filmed at Flinders Street Station on 22 September and shared on social media," police said this afternoon.

"An acting sergeant from a specialist Support Unit has since been suspended as a result of early enquiries."

Hundreds of police were tasked to patrol Melbourne CBD on Wednesday after thousands of protesters caused chaos on Monday and Tuesday.

Police arrested 215 people in the city on Wednesday as the protests continued.

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Victoria's Department of Health has been charged with 58 workplace health and safety breaches over the state's first hotel quarantine program.

The Department of Health was responsible for the oversight and coordination of Victoria's first hotel quarantine program, Operation Soteria.

WorkSafe has alleged the Department of Health breached Occupational Health and Safety laws by failing to appoint people with infection prevention and control (IPC) expertise at quarantine hotels.

READ MORE: Victoria marks highest ever COVID-19 tally

It is alleged the department failed to provide security guards with face-to-face infection control training by a person with expertise in IPC before they commenced work, and either failed, or initially failed, to provide written instruction for the use of PPE.

The department allegedly also failed to update written instructions relating to the wearing of masks at several hotels.

"In all charges, WorkSafe alleges that Department of Health employees, Victorian Government Authorised Officers on secondment, or security guards were put at risk of serious illness or death through contracting COVID-19 from an infected returned traveller, another person working in the hotels or from a contaminated surface," a WorkSafe statement read.

READ MORE: Victoria's hospitals under strain, ambulances forced to queue

The maximum penalty for each of the charges is $1.64 million.

WorkSafe said the "complex investigation" took 15 months to complete and involved reviewing tens of thousands of documents and multiple witness interviews.

Material from last year's COVID-19 Hotel Quarantine Inquiry provided relevant context and information that informed parts of the investigation.

Inquiries into other entities associated with the investigation including hotels, security firms and other government departments and agencies have concluded.

READ MORE: CFMEU office a Tier One COVID-19 exposure site

The matter will go before the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on October 22 for a filing hearing.

The charges relate to 17 breaches alleging the department failed to provide and maintain a working environment that was safe and without risks to health for its employees.

The other 41 breaches were for allegedly failing to ensure that persons other than employees were not exposed to risks to their health and safety.

A number of other investigations relating to the control of COVID-19 risks in workplaces remain ongoing.

https://omny.fm/shows/the-9news-lunch-podcast/sept-29-why-covid-cash-has-to-end-triple-zero-call/embed?style=cover

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