Move comes less than two weeks after high-profile digital currency exchange in Seoul was hacked and went bankrupt
Bitcoin plunged by more than $1,000 (£740) on Thursday after South Korea said it was planning a crackdown on trading in the digital currency in the latest of a string of warnings for investors.
It dropped to about $13,500 after trading at about $15,400 on Wednesday. The dip was seen as a further illustration of bitcoin’s volatility.