Finally, South Korea has banned anonymous bank accounts being used to buy and sell digital currencies. It’s a widely-anticipated move in one of the world’s most popular Bitcoin markets.
The idea is to prevent criminals from trading. As a result, Bitcoin fell from $11,000 to $10,179. Investors feared the crackdown could damage demand. It is trading close to its lowest levels in three months.
South Korea has a huge influence on Bitcoin’s price. It is the world’s third-biggest market for cryptocurrency after Japan and the US, and demand has meant the cryptocurrency trading hands at higher prices in the country than elsewhere. However, the lack of regulation has concerned authorities, who fear that money launderers outside of South Korea may be exploiting the relatively permissive laws.
The new legislation, which come into effect at the end of January, will also ban foreigners without local bank accounts and children under 19 from buying Bitcoin. Korea’s government is still considering an outright ban on the online exchanges where cryptocurrencies are bought and sold, a move that is still believed to be under consideration.
“The government is still discussing whether an outright ban is needed or not, internally,” an official said.
German and French regulators have also proposed a crackdown to be discussed at a G20 summit in March. British financial regulators have said they are monitoring developments in the market.
Bitcoin’s price hit a high of around $20,000 in December and fell under $10,000 last week. On Tuesday morning it recovered slightly from its low to trade at around $10,600.
