Bitcoin Price Sinks Further as South Korea’s New Cryptocurrency Trading Rules Take Effect

Bitcoin price declined for a second consecutive day on Tuesday as South Korea’s new restrictive policies on cryptocurrency trading officially went into effect.

As CCN reported, South Korea recently adopted new cryptocurrency trading regulations designed to curb the country’s heated markets. Beginning today, investors can no longer trade anonymously, so they must link their accounts with real-name bank accounts. Foreign traders are also prohibited from accessing the markets.

The new rules have correlated with a general decline in cryptocurrency prices, but local exchanges and many analysts believe they will strengthen the ecosystem over the long-term.

On Tuesday — whether connected to South Korea’s new rules or not — the cryptocurrency market cap declined a bit more than five percent to $536 billion, further reversing the market’s weekend rally.

Bitcoin Price Falls Below $11,000
The Bitcoin price largely tracked the index for the day, declining just under six percent to $10,526 on cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex. Bitcoin now has a market cap of $179.6 billion, which leaves its market share just above 33 percent.

bitcoin price
Bitcoin Price Chart
Despite this decline, however, there were at least two significant industry announcements out of South Korea which should bode well for the flagship cryptocurrency over the long-term.

First, tech conglomerate Samsung confirmed that it is manufacturing ASIC chips for a cryptocurrency mining hardware producer, which could eventually lead to a diversification of the mining industry.

Second, e-commerce giant WeMakePrice added support for cryptocurrency payments, a move that should help further cryptocurrency adoption in the country.

Ethereum Price Tests Support at $1,100
The Ethereum price, meanwhile, outperformed the index by about one percent, although it still fell by four percent overall. At present, Ethereum is trading at $1,134 on Bitfinex, which translates into a $111.5 billion market cap. Thus far, the Ethereum price has managed to resist plunging below the $1,100 level, but it may lose this battle if the present correction deepens

Altcoin Prices Chart Bearish Course
A variety of smaller altcoins managed to beat the index and in some cases even advance against the dollar, but most larger cryptocurrencies lagged the index’s daily performance.

The Ripple price declined by eight percent to $1.19, reducing XRP’s market cap to $45.6 billion. Bitcoin Cash declined nearly five percent, while Cardano’s nine percent pullback made ADA one of the day’s worst performers for the second consecutive day. The EOS price fell by eight percent, and NEO’s four percent decline was best among top-10 cryptocurrencies.

Litecoin, meanwhile, endured a five percent correction but was able to reclaim the eighth position from Stellar, whose 10 percent plunge was worst among top-tier altcoins. NEM, still suffering under the weight of Coincheck’s $530 million hack, declined by eight percent to $0.87 to round out the top 10.