Bitcoin Tumbles Again as Korea Moves In with Exchange Regulations

U.S. State Securities Regulator Lays Into Bitcoin With a Vengeance

The cryptocurrency market is slowing down at the end of the year- but additionally, Korea sounded an alarming message that it would start regulating the activity of exchanges.

While Korea does not plan an outright ban, the regulations would involve only the creation of non-anonymous accounts with a KYC procedure, already in place in other regions such as the USA and Europe.

"The government had warned several times that virtual coins cannot play a role as actual currency and could result in high losses due to excessive volatility," reads the official statement of the Korean state.

But Korean markets are also overheated, moving separately and with premium prices on most digital assets. This irrational investment exuberance led to riots and a freeze in Bithumb, the leading Korean exchange, as Bitcoin Cash experienced a spike and drop in mid-November.

After the news, Bitcoin fell on selling pressure during the most active hours on the Asian markets, sliding to $14,478.50 before starting to bounce back.

Right now, the Korean Won trading is at its usual levels, but far outstripped by trading against USDT.

So far, KYC regulations have not stopped the rise of Bitcoin, and may only be a temporary glitch. But still, the pressures on the market are unnerving, as the BTC price stopped its climb at around $20,000 and has been depressed for weeks, bringing about worries of a bear market resembling 2013.

Bitcoin's dominance over the cryptocurrency market has shrank to 43.7% as altcoins are going their separate ways and in some cases, appreciating against BTC as alternative assets.