South Korea is imposing additional measures regulating the trading of virtual currencies.
The government announced Thursday that it will require owners of cryptocurrency accounts to use their real names. It will also offer new legislation that will allow regulators to shut down virtual coin exchanges if necessary.
South Korea is home to one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, with about one million people owning bitcoin, the world's biggest and best-known cryptocurrency. Bitcoin's worth has exploded this year, trading as high as $19,500 just this month alone.
The sudden, meteoric rise of digital-based currency led Seoul to warn investors that it is not legal tender, and thus could result in high losses from excessive volatility.