SEOUL (dpa-AFX) - The entire crypto market fell by double-digit percentages Tuesday over fears of a wider trading crackdown in South Korea, which has emerged as the world's second-largest market for cryptocurrency.
South Korea Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon told local radio station TBS that the shutdown of virtual currency exchanges is still a live option, but 'government ministries need to very seriously review it.'
Also, there is unease in the investor community over reports of further possible clampdowns on trading and mining in China.
The two developments had a heavy negative impact on three leading cryptocurrencies in the global market.
Bitcoin lost its value by more than $2,200, and fell below $12,000 for the first time since December 5, according to CoinDesk data.
After plunging to the day's lowest level of $11,182.71, Bitcon slightly recovered.
Bitcoin has been losing significantly after hitting close to $20,000 on December 16.
Bitcoin's worse performance triggered a massive sell off across the broader cryptocurrency market, with biggest rival Ethereum down more than 20 percent in the last 24 hours, before recovering marginally to $1,115.
And the next biggest cryptocurrency, Ripple, fell almost 24 percent to $1.23 per token before recovering narrowly to $1.38.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX