Bitcoin price dips as South Korea cryptocurrency ban on anonymous accounts comes into force

New regulation of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has come into force in South Korea, one of the biggest markets for trading.

The country’s financial authority has banned the use of anonymous accounts for trading the highly speculative currencies.

People’s exchange wallets, which are used to hold cryptocurrencies online, will have to match the name on the bank accounts tied to the accounts. The move is aimed at limiting the use of bitcoin exchanges for money laundering.

Read more: The FCA’s issued a fresh warning on bitcoin scams as fraudsters move online

The price of bitcoin dipped more than two per cent, falling below the $11,000 mark. It’s meteoric yet volatile rise along with other cryptocurrencies such as ripple, ethereum and even dogecoin has been tempered since the start of the year.

A hack of a major Japanese exchange which came to light over the weekend had previously sent it tumbling below $11,000. In December it had risen to within touching distance of $20,000.

Japan’s financial regulators, the first in the world to introduce rules specifically aimed at bitcoin, is looking into the hack of Coincheck. On Sunday the UK watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority warned consumers to be weary of scams involving cryptocurrencies.