Digital currencies plummeted: Bitcoin suffered its biggest daily drop in three years, Ripple was close to falling below $1, and Ethereum broke through $1,000

Digital currencies continued to plummet, and the share prices of blockchain concept stocks plummeted.

As of the latest update, the Coinbase platform showed that at around 6:30 Beijing time, the Bitcoin trading price once fell below $10,000, a 28% drop in the day. Ethereum once fell 30% in 24 hours.

Data from Coinmarketcap, a website that tracks the market value and prices of digital currencies, showed that at around 5:40 Beijing time, among the top ten digital currencies by market value, Bitcoin, which had the smallest drop in 24 hours, fell by more than 22%, while Ripple (XRP) and NEM, which had the largest drops, both fell by more than 38%.

Bitcoin recorded its biggest daily drop in three years, Ripple was close to falling below $1, having been above $2 at the beginning of the year, and Ethereum fell below the $1,000 mark, returning to the level more than a week ago.

Screenshot from Coinmarketcap

DPW Holdings' shares plunged as much as 21% in early trading on Tuesday, closing down 15.75%. The company's Coolisys Technology division is dedicated to developing advanced technology power systems related to virtual currency mining.

Riot Blockchain, which transformed itself into a blockchain company in October last year, saw its stock price fall 13% in early trading and close down 16.45%.

Medici Ventures, a subsidiary of Overstock.com, is also engaged in virtual currency-related businesses. Overstock.com's stock price fell 8% in early trading and closed down 11.02%.

Eastman Kodak's stock price fell as much as 13% on Tuesday, closing down 7.61%. Last week, the company's stock price soared nearly 200% after it announced a partnership with WENN Digital to launch Kodak One, a photo ownership management platform powered by blockchain technology.

Metropolitan Commercial Bank, the second-largest bank in the Philippines, which has issued a bitcoin debit card called Shift Card, fell 2.7% in early trading on Tuesday and closed down 0.29%.

But not all stocks of virtual currency-related companies were hit hard, with some companies that had benefited from the digital currency investment boom rising on Tuesday.

The New York beverage company, which recently changed its name to Long Blockchain and was formerly known as Long Island Iced Tea, saw its stock price surge 9.9% in pre-market trading. The company has entered the "letter of intent" stage with Stater Blockchain in an all-share transaction. Its stock price fell more than 4.4% in early trading, then narrowed the decline and closed down about 2.4%.

AMD, a US semiconductor manufacturer, closed down 0.92% on Tuesday, having risen 1.3% in early trading. Nvidia, another US technology company, also saw its share price rise nearly 4% in early trading on Tuesday, closing down 1.29%.

An article published yesterday by Wall Street Journal mentioned that in mid-December last year, the price of Bitcoin was close to the $20,000 mark. By the time it fell 18% on the 16th Beijing time, it had fallen more than 40% from its record high, and its market value had "evaporated" by $125 billion.

This afternoon (January 16), Sina quoted Reuters as saying that Pan Gongsheng, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, suggested banning the centralized trading of digital currencies, and prohibiting individuals and companies from providing related services. Bloomberg reported overnight that after China completely closed domestic exchanges, speculators turned to over-the-counter exchanges. Online platforms and mobile apps for centralized trading services of over-the-counter exchanges have been active recently, and the Chinese government will upgrade its crackdown measures in a targeted manner.

South Korea, where Bitcoin trading is currently booming, has recently once again reported a ban on digital currency trading. According to Yonhap News Agency, South Korean Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon mentioned in a radio program that the government's position is to regulate cryptocurrency investment because it is a large-scale speculation, and "closing digital currency exchanges is still one of the options."

In addition, Maijoor, chairman of the European Securities and Markets Authority, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV that investors should be prepared to lose all their money, "(digital currency) value volatility is huge, and it is not suitable as a circulating currency", and said that it "has not yet been widely accepted."