Investing.com - The prices of major cryptocurrencies edged higher on Wednesday but held in a familiar trading range, with Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple all bouncing back after suffering double-digit percentage losses.
Bitcoin was trading at $10,872 by 4:45AM ET (0945GMT) on the Bitfinex exchange, up 2.8%. It fell to as low as $9,901 on Tuesday. Prices are nearly 50% lower from their record high of around $20,000 reached in mid-December.
Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, gained 3.3% to $993.08 on the Bitfinex exchange, after sliding to a low of $905.38 a day earlier.
Meanwhile, Ripple's XRP token was trading at $1.3593, up around 5% for the day.
2018 has not started well for cryptocurrencies, with most of the blame falling on worries about increased regulatory scrutiny in South Korea and other countries.
South Korea’s government is examining multiple options for cracking down on cryptocurrency trading, including a blanket shutdown of cryptocurrency exchanges and a closure of only the ones acting illegally.
Regulators in South Korea said this week that the government will ban the use of anonymous bank accounts in cryptocurrency trading from Jan. 30.
The government also plans to require cryptocurrency exchanges to share users' transaction data with banks as part of a clampdown on cryptocurrency trading.
Cryptocurrency trading in South Korea is highly speculative and digital currencies are often traded at a premium, meaning that they are priced significantly higher in the country's exchanges than elsewhere in the world. The country is one is one of the largest markets for major coins like bitcoin and ethereum.