Cryptocurrencies fall after South Korea ban on government trading

Bitcoin slumped on Tuesday amid regulatory concerns, as South Korea issued a ban on cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin was trading at $10,927, down 5.13% as of 12:59 GMT on the Bitfinex after hitting an overnight high of $11,642. Bitcoin has struggled to stay above $11,000 since it hit a two-month low of $6,000 in early February.

South Korean officials have banned government officials from holding and trading cryptocurrencies, and officials could be subject to disciplinary actions even if their jobs have nothing to do with digital currencies.

As the virtual currencies grow in popularity, regulators around the world have been debating about the best way to regulate cryptocurrencies. South Korea has been looking into regulating the currency, while last week Bank of England governor Mark Carney said the digital coins should be regulated like the financial system.

Meanwhile, Ripple slumped after rumours that popular exchange Coinbase would add the cryptocurrency to its platform were proved false. Ripple, the third largest cryptocurrency by market cap, sank 11.53% to trade at $0.93000 after Coinbase said the company has “made no decision to add additional assets to either GDAX or Coinbase” and that “any statement to the contrary is untrue and unauthorized by the company.”

Elsewhere the U.S. Marshals Service said that around 2,170 Bitcoins, worth nearly $25 million, seized during a federal criminal, civil and administrative case, would be auctioned off on March 19.

Other virtual currencies were down, with rival Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, falling 4.14% to $830.55 on the Bitfinex exchange. Litecoin was last at $201.86, a decrease of 5.43%.