Bitcoin prices tumble as South Korea plans crackdown anonymous accounts
Bitcoin fell on Thursday, marking the latest gyration following a major sell-off at the end of last week.South Korea will require people who trade Bitcoin and other virtual currencies to do so under their real names, the country’s government said on Thursday, as part of efforts to curb speculation.
Bitcoin, virtual currency, has been on a gravity-defying bull run over the past few months. The price of a Bitcoin started the year at around $1,000 and topped $19,000 earlier this month, causing swarms of ordinary savers around the world to get in on what remains a largely unregulated — and highly volatile —
investment.
The most valuable digital cryptocurrency bitcoin has fallen almost 30% from its peak to $14,353, according to Coindesk. The cryptocurrency fell as low as $13,672.16 on Thursday — an 11
percent decline compared with the beginning of the day, according to leading industry site CoinDesk. At 3:42 p.m. HK/SIN, bitcoin had ascended back to $14,233.60.That, remained above the low of $10,400 it hit last Friday amid a session of highly volatile trading. There had been a no immediately apparent explanation behind that fall.
South Korean watchdogs are planning to ban anonymous accounts The moves followed a statement South Korea’s Office for Government Policy Coordination which said it would ban banks from offering virtual accounts to cryptocurrency sites and demand that digital currency transactions take place with verified names between buyers and sellers. It also said it could consider the closure of certain exchanges, if necessary, to clamp down on speculation in the surging online market.”Cryptocurrency speculation has been irrationally overheated in Korea,” the
statement said. “We cannot leave the abnormal situation of speculation any longer.Kim Jin-hwa, who heads an industry association for businesses working with virtual currencies and other applications of blockchain technology in South Korea, said most of the country’s virtual currency exchanges could already verify customers’
identities via their cellphones. The exchanges, Mr. Kim said, had also worked with banks to develop new measures for ensuring transparency.
The government is more interested in sending a warning to investors about the potentially overheated market, said S.G. Lee, chairman of the Korea Fintech Industry
Association.
Mr. Lee, who is no relation to the prime minister,
“South Korea is one of the world’s biggest digital currency trader and the Bithumb exchange, one of the most active according to media reports , is based in
Seoul.]]>
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