SOUTH KOREA PREPARING TO BAN ALL CRYPTOCURRENCY TRADING IN THE COUNTRY
January 10th, 2018Disclosure: I hold cryptocurrencies.
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Via: CNBC:
South Korea’s justice minister said on Thursday that a bill is being prepared to ban all cryptocurrency trading in the country.
That news is a major development for the cryptocurrency space, as South Korea is one of the biggest markets for major coins like bitcoin and ethereum.
According to industry website CryptoCompare, more than 10 percent of ethereum is traded against the South Korean won — the second largest concentration in terms of fiat currencies behind the dollar. Meanwhile, 5 percent of all bitcoin are traded against the won.
“There are great concerns regarding virtual currencies and justice ministry is basically preparing a bill to ban cryptocurrency trading through exchanges,” Park Sang-ki said at a press conference, according to the ministry’s press office.
Bitcoin tumbled more than 12 percent following Park’s remarks. At 12:35 p.m. HK/SIN, the cryptocurrency traded at $13,042.79 per token.
He added that he couldn’t disclose more specific details about the proposed shutdown of cryptocurrency trading exchanges, adding that various government agencies would work together to implement several measures.
