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Today, Bitcoin price plummeted to a 2018-low after South Korea’s justice minister reportedly proposed a complete shutdown of all cryptocurrency exchanges in the country.
South Korea’s justice minister Park Sang-ki stated, “The ministry is preparing legislation that basically bans any transactions based on a virtual currency through the trading floor. We have grave concerns about [the craze over] virtual currency and [a shutdown] would be one of the goals we are aiming for.”
South Korea remains among the biggest cryptocurrency markets in the world, particularly for major coins such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and Bitcoin Cash. Soon after the announcement, locally, prices took a beating with Ripple falling as much as 25% and Bitcoin dropping over 17.5%. That’s still a near 30% premium compared to other major markets, which also fell.
Altogether, 50 of the most valuable cryptocurrencies in the market demonstrated a large decline in value after the Park’s statement.
However, hours later, the majority of the cryptocurrencies value recovered with the exception of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dash. Specifically, cryptocurrencies that are heavily concentrated in the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange market in terms of daily trading volume and user activity have recovered faster than others.
The sell-off from investors in the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange market in fear of a potential cryptocurrency trading ban, which has now been debunked by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, caused the cryptocurrency market to fall in value.
Now that the market is already recovering at a rapid rate, the global market will likely soon recover. Apparently, the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange ban rumors led to a domino effect across all major regions and exchanges.
said, if the market recovers from the initial FUD on cryptocurrency trading ban, it is unlikely that the market will be impacted by the same piece of information in the mid to long-term.
Top Stories from the Crypto World
1. Jamie Dimon regrets ‘Bitcoin is fraud’ remark
Back in September 2017 at a banking conference, Dimon called bitcoin a “fraud” and that it was “worse than tulip bulbs”. A longstanding critic, Dimon also threatened to fire employees trading bitcoin.
Now, the high-profile Wall Street figure has backpedaled on those remarks and softening his stance in a televised interview with FOX Business Network, stating “I regret making them.” He said:
“The bitcoin to me was always what the governments are gonna feel about bitcoin as it gets really big, and I just have a different opinion than other people. I’m not interested that much in the subject at all.”
2. Israel central bank calls Bitcoin an asset
Bank of Israel deputy governor Nadine Baudot-Trajtenberg revealed the central bank’s official position on the recognition and regulation of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.
The central bank official also admitted fielding a number of public complaints about banks making it difficult to move fiat money from their accounts to purchase cryptocurrencies while adding it would be “difficult” to issue regulations for cryptocurrencies. She stated:
“Bitcoin and similar virtual currencies are not a currency and are not considered foreign currency. The Bank of Israel’s position is that they should be viewed as a financial asset, with all that entails.”
3. Singapore Dollar and Bitcoin the same under AML/CFT Laws, says Deputy PM
Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Singapore’s deputy prime minister and minister in charge of the central bank, has said:
“When it comes to money laundering or terrorist financing, Singapore’s laws do not make any distinction between transactions effected using fiat currency, virtual currency or other novel ways of transmitting value… Hence, MAS’ AML/CFT requirements apply to all activities of financial institutions, whether conducted in fiat or virtual currencies.”
Despite issuing a recent caution to investors getting into cryptocurrencies, Singapore’s central bank is pressing ahead with a regulation that will bring a number of retail payment services, including bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchanges, under the singular regulation of its Payment Services Bill.