Well, it's falling apart for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies again.
The entire complex is taking it on the chin with Bitcoin falling below $11,000 at one point according to at least one exchange's pricing. Ripple is a complete disaster:
Although South Korea has backed off a bit on a crackdown that has rattled sentiment in the new year, investors still seem to be concerned.
On Tuesday, in an interview with TBS radio, South Korean Finance Minister Kim Dong–yeon said shutting down the exchanges is still an option. He went on to say that although the Justice Ministry wants the exchanges shuttered, other ministries are concerned about possible blowback. Still, Kim said all ministries “agree that there is irrational speculation in cryptocurrency and rational regulation are needed to curb it.”
“The pullback seems to be coming from a lack of buyers in Asia,” Mati Greenspan, senior market analyst at eToro, told CNBC in an email, adding that “Japan and South Korea usually dominate this market but over the last few days, the volumes have been dropping steadily [and] this morning, the combined volumes from these two countries dropped below 30 percent.”
You'll also recall that on Monday, Bloomberg said China is looking to crack down on “alternative venues”. Specifically, they're going to “block domestic access to homegrown and offshore platforms that enable centralized trading [and] target individuals and companies that provide market-making, settlement and clearing services for centralized trading.”
Tuesday's slide took Bitcoin to its lowest levels since early December:
Meanwhile, European Securities and Markets Authority Chairman Steven Maijoor told Bloomberg in an interview in Hong Kong that Bitcoin investors “should be prepared to lose all their money.”
“It's called a currency but the very important characteristics of a currency is not there,” he went on to say before telling you what you already know: “It is extremely volatile.”
