Cryptocurrencies are sliding once again as Asia opens following headlines from South Korea's finance ministry that a cryptocurrency exchange shutdown is still an option (but admittedly it needs "serious" discussion among ministries first).

While all of the main South Korean ministries agree that there is irrational speculation in cryptocurrency and rational regulation are needed to curb the speculation, only the Justice Ministry has said the shut down of cryptocurrency exchanges is needed as other ministries are concerned about side effects.

As Yonhap reports again, The Office for Government Policy Coordination made the announcement, downplaying the justice minister's remark last week that the government is working on legislation to close all virtual currency exchanges to tackle speculation.

"The proposed shutdown of exchanges that the justice minister recently mentioned is one of the measures suggested by the justice ministry to curb speculation. A government-wide decision will be made in the future after sufficient consultation and coordination of opinions," the office said in a statement.

Ripple is leading the overnight slam (down around 10%)...

Which leaves Ripple down 25% year-to-date (while Ethereum remains up around 65%)...

Bitcoin just broke back below $13,000 having tested above $14,000 during the day...

The irony is that all of this 'news' hit last night (and has done numerous times) but keeps getting regurgitated as new headlines that take the cryptos down briefly.