Bitcoin (CURRENCY:BTC) and Ethereum price continued to plunge on Wednesday morning, after South Korea officials suggested it may plan to enforce a crackdown on cryptocurrencies.
The price of market leader, Bitcoin, plummeted as much as 18 percent amid renewed concerns about greater government regulation.
Park Sang-ki, South Korea’s justice minister, said: “There are great concerns regarding virtual currencies and [the] justice ministry is basically preparing a bill to ban cryptocurrency trading through exchanges,”
“Some officials are pushing for stronger and stronger regulations because they only see more (investors) jumping in, not out,”
This proves particularly problematic for the decentralised currency, with South Korea accounting for almost 20 percent of its total transactions.
Over the course of the last year, the value of cryptocurrencies have surged considerably, with bitcoin alone topping the 12,000 mark, marking a 1,500% rise.
2017 has seen the cryptocurrency rise all the way from the $1,000 mark at the start of the year, as it gains traction across mainstream markets.
Moreover, many high-profile companies have begun to embrace its momentum.
Last week, Kodak announced its intention to enter the market with the launch of its very own ICO, KodakCoin. On the back of the news, shares in the technology company were up over 100 percent.
However, shares in Kodak (NYSE:KDK) are currently down 6.59 percent on the back of these latest market fears.
Accordingly, many financial insiders have continued to warn against the cryptocurrency ‘bubble’, amid concerns it will facilitate criminal activities.
Last year, JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) boss Jamie Dimon labelled Bitcoin a fraud, only fit for use by drug dealers, murderers and “people living in places such as North Korea”.
This was followed by chief economist for Dutch Bank INGA, Teunis Brosen, who dismissed it as a “niche” product for tech nerds and criminals.
Most recently, Billionaire investor Warren Buffett revealed in an interview to CNBC that he would never invest in Bitcoin.
He said, “I can say almost with certainty that cryptocurrencies will come to a bad end.”
Bitcoin is currently trading 7532.46 against the British Pound, as of 11.48AM.