Bitcoin and altcoins lost up to 40% of their value the morning of Tuesday, Jan. 16, as regulatory pressure from China and South Korea appears to upset optimism.

Cross-exchange data from CoinMarketCap reveals the extent of bear sentiment arising from the confused situation in Seoul and the news of additional trading sanctions from Beijing.

On Monday, Cointelegraph reported on how Korean authorities would likely stop short of an outright cryptocurrency exchange “shutdown,” but had introduced fines for users unwilling to use personal identification data on crypto exchanges in the country.

At the same time, China is looking to expand the scope of its September crypto exchange ban to “end” centralized trading for Bitcoin and altcoins in all forms, various sources now report.

As of press time, Bitcoin has lost almost 15% on the news, while the majority of major altcoin assets fared considerably worse, dipping between 20% and 30%, some of the top 30 coins even seeing 40% losses.

Bitcoin Cash, which had seen significant price advances in the first part of January, has fallen below $2000. Ripple stood at $1.36 at press time - less than half of its Jan. 4 high over $3.

Reactions to the events show what has become a standard selection in the cryptocurrency sphere and beyond. Traders lick their wounds, pundits suggest the price correction is a ‘healthy’ one, while a flurry of mainstream media articles hints at the bursting of the cryptocurrency ‘bubble’ yet again.

The amount of money waiting to come in makes a prolonged bear market close to impossible. EVERYONE that matters is looking into crypto right now. And it is really everyone. — Paul (@paul_btc) January 16, 2018

On the subject of future positivity, this week’s Wall Street bonus allocation, tipped to spark a mass influx of cash into cryptocurrency markets, comes at a time when the potential for short-term profit is all the more visible.