Bitcoin temporarily tumbled 28 percent to below $10,000 on Coinbase
Ethereum briefly dropped more than 30 percent from 24 hours prior
Ripple, the third-largest digital currency by market capitalization, briefly fell 46 percent, according to CoinMarketCap

Bitcoin breaks below $10K  

18 Hours Ago | 01:42
Bitcoin briefly plunged below $10,000 late Tuesday afternoon on Coinbase, after first topping the psychologically key level in late November.

Other major digital currencies also sold off sharply. Digital currency ethereum plunged 30 percent Tuesday, to below $1,000, while ripple fell below $1.

In fact, nearly every major cryptocurrency suffered massive losses during the day.

Ethereum traded at about $1,062 as of 8:12 p.m. ET. That represented a sizable rebound after hitting a low of $854 earlier in the afternoon. Coinbase is the leading U.S. marketplace for trading bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin and bitcoin cash.

But at around 10:50 p.m. ET, the price of ethereum fell below $1,000 again to trade at $973.

The declines followed comments from South Korean authorities that indicated tougher regulation on digital currency trading. However, there was no immediately apparent driver behind the late-afternoon decline.

Ethereum 24-hour performance

Bitcoin 1-hour performance