The price of bitcoin fell below $12,000 for the first time since December 5, according to CoinDesk data. South Korea Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said in a radio program interview that "the shutdown of virtual currency exchanges is still one of the options" the government has, according to an English-language report Tuesday from South Korea's Yonhap News. China also plans to block domestic access to Chinese and offshore cryptocurrency platforms that allow centralized trading, according to a Bloomberg report.
Bitcoin plunged to a six-week low Tuesday after comments from South Korea's finance minister renewed worries about a crackdown in one of the largest markets for digital currency trading. South Korea Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said in a radio program interview that "the shutdown of virtual currency exchanges is still one of the options" the government has, according to an English-language report Tuesday from South Korea's Yonhap News. Bitcoin fell nearly 17.7 percent to a low of $11,182.71 Tuesday, falling below $12,000 for the first time since Dec. 5, according to CoinDesk. CoinDesk's bitcoin price index tracks prices from cryptocurrency exchanges Bitstamp, Coinbase, itBit and Bitfinex. As of early Tuesday morning, ET, bitcoin was trading about 10 percent lower around $12,294, according to CoinDesk.
Trading in South Korean won accounted for about 4 percent of bitcoin trading volume, according to CryptoCompare. U.S. dollar-bitcoin trading had the largest share at 40 percent, the website showed. Bitcoin 12-hour performance
Source: CoinDesk Other major digital currencies including ethereum and ripple also fell significantly. According to CoinMarketCap data, ethereum was trading at $1,051.83, down more than 20 percent in the last 24 hours, before recovering to $1,156. Ripple fell almost 27 percent to $1.33 a token before recovering to $1.50. Investors also monitored reports of an escalated crackdown on the cryptocurrency market in China. Source
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