South Korea's government said it plans to implement special measures to control virtual currency speculation.
The government has repeatedly warned that virtual currencies are not legal tender and its prices can fluctuate drastically causing great losses, the Office for Government Policy Coordination said in a statement on Thursday.
The virtual currency speculation has irrationally overheated in South Korea, the government said, adding that it is not in a position to neglect these unusual speculation.
New measures will require real-name cryptocurrency transactions and plans to ban cryptocurrency exchanges deemed necessary, a measure proposed by the Ministry of Justice.
Singapore's central bank last week advised the public to act with extreme caution and understand the significant risks they take on if they choose to invest in cryptocurrencies.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore cautioned investors that there is no regulatory safeguard for investments in cryptocurrencies.
After Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by value, suffered a major sell-off on December 22 that saw the digital currency fall below $11,000, governments, stock market regulators and central banks across the world repeated their warnings and some even initiated crackdown measures.
In Israel, the stock market watchdog has sought a ban on companies trading in cryptocurrencies from listing on the Tel Aviv stock exchange. The Israel Securities Authority also wants a suspension of such firms currently operating on the stock exchange.
Meanwhile, the Israeli media reported over the last weekend that the central bank was planning to launch a cryptocurrency, which was dubbed the digital shekel, to make payments faster and to reduce the use of cash.
by RTT Staff Writer
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