Investing.com - The price of digital currency bitcoin along with other cryptocurrencies held steady on Monday but gains were held in check as uncertainty over South Korea’s plans to regulate digital currencies continued to weigh.
Bitcoin was trading at $11,713 by 04:52 AM ET (09:53 AM GMT) on the Bitfinex exchange.
Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, was last at $1,072.30 on the Bitfinex exchange.
Meanwhile, Ripple's XRP token was trading at $1.37 on the Poloniex exchange.
On Sunday, South Korea’s Yohnap news agency reported that the government plans to require cryptocurrency exchanges to share users' transaction data with banks as part of a clampdown on cryptocurrency trading.
Banks are expected to introduce the system, which will be a “measure of tax enforcement,” late this month or early next month, the report said, citing a single unnamed financial authority official.
Another report by Yohnap on Monday said the government will impose a tax of up to 24.2% of corporate and local income taxes from cryptocurrency exchanges this year.
Last month, the government banned the opening of new virtual accounts for cryptocurrency investors and required virtual currency traders to change their virtual accounts to real-name ones.
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.
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.
On Jan. 11 police raided the offices of Coinone and Bithumb, two of the country’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges on suspicions of tax evasion.
The country banned initial coin offerings last September.