16.01.201819:43:00UTC+00Bitcoin Briefly Plunges below $10,000

Bitcoin temporarily declined below $10,000 on Coinbase, after first surpassing the psychologically significant level in late November.

Other major digital currency markets also experienced a strong wave of selloff. Bitcoin's rival e-currency, ethereum, declined 30 percent to below $1, 000. Ripple also slid below $1.

Ethereum managed to regain footing, rebounding to the $1, 000 level. Less than a half hour earlier, the cryptocurrency traded on Coinbase near $964 or 26 percent lower over the last 24 hours after skidding to a low of $854 earlier in the afternoon.

The declines came after comments from South Korean regulators that signalled stricter regulation on cryptocurrency trading. However, there was no clear driver behind the late-afternoon slide.

Bitcoin declined 28 percent to a low of $9, 969 on Coinbase, but quickly surged back up to trade back above $11, 000. Bitcoin's value now has almost halved in price after surpassing $19, 800 in mid-December. Despite the steep decline, the digital currency continues to be 1,100 percent higher over the last 12 months, Coinbase data showed.

Bitcoin, the third-biggest digital currency based on market cap, traded near $1.08 after posting a steep decline of 46 percent to almost 90 cents, according to CoinMarketCap.