Bitcoin Tumbles as South Korea Bans Anonymous Cryptocurrency Trading

Bitcoin and other major digital currencies came under renewed selling pressure after South Korea’s decision to ban anonymous cryptocurrency trading.

The Financial Services Commission in South Korea took a major step and introduced a new rule for cryptocurrency transactions and trading. They banned the use of anonymous bank accounts for bitcoin and cryptocurrencies related trading and transactions.

Speaking at the government complex in Seoul, South Korea, South Korea’s Financial Services Commission vice Chair, Kim Yong-Beom, stated that a new system will be introduced soon, which will enable local banks to stop anonymous transactions related to bitcoin trading.

He added that “cryptocurrency exchanges that are in danger of being exploited for money laundering will be thrown out of the market”.

It means these steps will help regulatory firms to prevent money laundering criminal activities in South Korea using bitcoins and cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin price was down roughly 11.88% to USD 10,344. Other major cryptocurrencies also declined sharply, including ether and ripple. ETH traded lower by 12.12% to USD 950. It is now trading below the USD 980 support level and it may continue to decline in the near future.
The next major support in ETH/USD is at USD 920. Similarly, XRP was down 8.2% to USD 1.24 and is currently holding the USD 1.20 support. Should there be a break below the USD 1.20 support, ripple price could test the USD 1.10 level.

Recently in the US, Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) cautioned Trump administration on Venezuelan Regime’s ‘petro’ cryptocurrency plans. In anopen letter to Secretary Mnuchin, they mentioned:

“As such, we are concerned that a cryptocurrency could provide Maduro a mechanism by which to make payments to foreign lenders and bondholders in the United States, actions that would clearly thwart the intent of U.S.-imposed sanctions.”

One of the five questions asked by Senators was “Does the Department have effective enforcement mechanisms to follow and counter the use of cryptocurrencies?”

Clearly, there is a lot happening in the cryptocurrency arena, putting a lot of pressure on bitcoin price below the USD 11,000 level. Going forward, BTC/USD could test the USD 10,000 level if the current market sentiment fails to ease in the short term.