Crypto Today: Bitcoin drops back below $ 15k, Ethereum rallies 5%

After a bullish end to the previous week, Bitcoin, the world’s most traded cryptocurrency started-off this week on a negative footing, now accelerating its declines below the $ 15000 mark for the third consecutive session. 

The selling pressure in the digital currency gathered strength largely after the widely used research site, Coinmarketcap, removed prices from South Korean exchanges without warning.

Coinmarketcap wrote on Twitter: “This morning we excluded some Korean exchanges in price calculations due to the extreme divergence in prices from the rest of the world and limited arbitrage opportunity. We are working on better tools to provide users with the averages that are most relevant to them.”

The sell-off was also fuelled by reports that the South Korean and Chinese regulators planned to increase oversight on cryptocurrency trading and mining. Bitcoin slumped as much as 20% to $13,760, the most in more than two weeks over the last three trading sessions.

On the other hand, its rival Ethereum is seen rallying nearly 5% to trade near $ 1200, after its co-creator Steven Nerayoff said that Ethereum could triple in value this year.

Nerayoff said Monday on CNBC: "What you're seeing with Ethereum is exponential increase in the number of projects — there are billions of dollars being poured into the ecosystem right now — maybe 10 times more projects this year than last year, which could easily lead to a doubling, probably a tripling in price by the end of the year."