South Korea today said it would allow regulators to close virtual currency exchanges as well as ban all anonymous digital currency accounts as part of one of the many measures it has outlined to crack down on digital trading.

The announcement likely contributed to the price of the best known cryptocurrency, bitcoin (BTC) to drop more than 11% or $1,000 this morning.

In this warning to cryptocurrency investors, South Korea’s Hong Nam-ki, thw South Korean minister for government policy co-ordination, told The Telegraph:

Officials share the view that virtual currency trading is overheating irrationally… and we can no longer overlook this abnormal speculative situation.

As a part of this crackdown, South Korean regulators will close down anonymous accounts next month.

The announcement comes less than two weeks after South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Youbit was hacked.

Earlier this week, in another move to curb money laundering, and other suspicious activities related to digital currency trading, South Korea said it would also ban financial firms from dealing in Bitcoin and other virtual currencies.

Today as of 10 AM ET, bitcoin is trading at $14,080.01, according to CoinBase.

Read more at The Telegraph and The Guardian. 

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