The prices of the main cryptocurrencies, including the bitcoin, the ethereum and the ripple, have collapsed on Tuesday, registering double-digit losses due to a massive sale.
Bitcoin was placed at 12,106.00 USD at 9:49 am (CET) on the Bitfinex platform in the United States, leaving 10.96% against its previous closing price.
The ethereum, the second cryptocurrency in the world by market capitalization, stood at $ 1,124.70 on the Bitfinex stock exchange after touching a ceiling on Saturday at $ 1,423.20.
Meanwhile, the Ripple XRP has been placed at USD 1.41 in the Poloinex stock market, with a decline of around 23% so far this day.
This has lowered the market capitalization of the ethereum to USD 108 billion and the value of the ripple to USD 53 billion. Bitcoin is still the first cryptocurrency by market capitalization, with a total value of 208 billion USD.
The cryptocurrencies have experienced a very volatile start to the year after the tremendous rebound in 2017. The increase in regulatory scrutiny in South Korea has shaken investor confidence.
The prices of cryptocurrencies plummeted at the end of last week after it was revealed that South Korea could be considering banning operations with all the virtual currencies in the nation.
South Korea's justice minister has said the government is preparing a bill to ban the trade of virtual currencies in domestic markets. The country is one of the main markets for digital currencies such as bitcoin and ethereum.
The cryptocurrency trade in South Korea is highly speculative and digital currencies often trade at a premium, which means that they have a considerably higher price on the stock exchanges of this nation than in other parts of the world.
The South Korean government said on Monday that its plans to ban virtual currency operations were not yet final, as government agencies are still in talks to decide how to regulate this market.
The concern of South Korea in the cryptocurrency trade comes after the sudden movements by China, which canceled operations with cryptocurrencies last year and now seeks to end the operations that produce bitcoin, a process known as exploitation. mining
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