Bitcoin Price Falls: Korean Government To Inspect Major Bank Accounts

On Monday (8th January 2018) a resurgent Bitcoin cost saw its rally grind to a stop after the report that South Korean authorities tasked with fighting money laundering and terrorist funding would probe bank account that are linked to national crypto-currency exchanges.

Bitcoin Price Rally Crushes to a Halt

Despite losing a large amount of market share in the face of a prevalent altcoin rally, bitcoin was able to rise through the first week of the New Year.

Over the weekend, however, the flagship crypto-currency embarked on a rally of its own. From Saturday(6th January 2018) evening, the bitcoin cost had jumped to $17,252 on Bitfinex, its greatest mark since 21st December 2017 and a rise of almost $4,000 from where it started the year.

However, soon after attaining this spot the bitcoin cost entered a steep drop, and in the time of writing this article (10th January 2018), it had been trading at only $13,860 – a 13% decrease from its Saturday(6th January 2018) peak.

South Korea Scrutinizes Exchange Bank Accounts

The decline seems to be at least partly connected to a report from regional press outlet Yonhap in which South Korean authorities intend to run an “intensive probe” into bank account linked to South Korean crypto-currency exchanges.

The inspection, which is overseen by the Financial Services Commission (FSC), attempt to find out whether banks have complied with anti-money laundering policies when servicing nation’s bitcoin exchanges, that have allegedly deposited more than two trillion won ($1.8 billion) in Korean banks.

The probe comes as authorities have sought to tighten influx of fiat money into Korean trades and curb the nation’s heated crypto-currency markets, which frequently cost coins and tokens at excess premiums compared to their worldwide average rates.

Dealers are clearly bothered about what regulators will discover when they conduct their reviews, in addition to that how they’ll react should if they find accounts to be non-compliant. Korean officials haven’t ruled out shutting crypto-currency trades down later on for failing to comply with regulations, so the move could lead to a tumultuous week for the markets as dealers wait for an official report.

Notably, this uncertainty seems to have dwarfed additional bullish statements, the most important of which is the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has registered to list leveraged Bitcoin ETFs on its own Arca trading platform, an event which would further cement crypto-currency as a mainstream asset class.

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Created on Jan 26th 2018 01:30. Viewed 377 times.

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