As the price of cryptocurrencies continues to fall, figures released on 17th January have now revealed that over $200 billion has been taken off the trading value of global cryptocurrencies.

According to Coinmarketcap.com, a website that evaluates the trading price of every digital currency across different exchanges, on the morning of 16th January, the value of the entire market was $653.8 billion. Traders then began to take matters into their own had and what is known as the sell-off officially began. The prices of major cryptocurrencies such as Ripple, Bitcoin and Ethereum all dramatically fell and by the evening, the market total was recorded at $450.5 billion. Whilst some coins may have recovered, officially trading prices are still notably lower than they have been in recent weeks.

The finger of blame has been pointed at South Korea and China throughout the crippling price drop after their governments sparked panic and worry over tighter legislation regarding the cryptocurrency market. Just last week, South Korea's Justice Minister was reported to have said that his department was planning a bill that, if passed, could halt trading via a number of cryptocurrency exchanges. Later, it seemed that other ministers in the government relaxed their opinions.

Earlier this week, it was also reported that the Chinese Central Bank had advised authorities to stop centralised trading of cryptocurrencies.