The South Korean government is planning to ban cryptocurrency trading in the country and is drafting a bill on these lines, Reuters reported.

While recent reports suggested that the government was planning to ban anonymous cryptocurrency trading, the recent announcement from the Ministry of Justice sent the price of bitcoin tumbling to $12,800 levels today (Bitstamp). BTC/USD is currently trading at $13590 levels at the time of writing.

Earlier this week, the country’s law enforcement and tax agencies raided leading cryptocurrency exchanges including Coinone and Bithumb for alleged tax evasion.

Addressing a press conference, Justice Minister Park Sang-ki said that a bill is being prepared to impose a ban on domestic virtual currency trading.

“There are great concerns regarding virtual currencies and justice ministry is basically preparing a bill to ban cryptocurrency trading through exchanges,” said Park at a press conference (as quoted by Reuters). “Some officials are pushing for stronger and stronger regulations because they only see more (investors) jumping in, not out.”

The proposed ban has been announced following discussions with other government agencies including the finance ministry and financial regulators, a press official told Reuters.

This week, CoinMarketCap removed South Korean exchanges in price calculations citing “extreme divergence in price from rest of the world.”