Crypto Today: Bitcoin drops below $14K, Ripple touches $1.5

• Bitcoin extends losses on news from South Korea.
• Ripple extend rally to a new record high at $1.5.
• Total market cap declines by $50 billion.

The BTC/USD pair came under a heavy selling pressure on Thursday and dropped below the $14K mark as investors continued to sell their Bitcoin's on recent developments from South Korea.

Government officials on Thursday announced that they were planning to implement new measures to battle speculation in cryptocurrency exchanges. "Officials share the view that virtual currency trading is overheating irrationally and we can no longer overlook this abnormal speculative situation." the official statement read, as reported by The Guardian. According to the press release, the government is leaving all policy options open, including closure of a cryptocurrency exchanges when deemed necessary.

Bitcoin's market dominance eased to 42% on Thursday and the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies decreased to $550 billion from $600 billion a day ago. 

In the meantime, Ripple, which gained traction yesterday and gained more than 25% following news of some Japanese companies considering the use of that currency in their services, extended its rally and renewed its all-time high at $1.5. As of writing, Ripple was at $1.46, up 4.28%, according to the data available on coinmarketcap.com.