Bitcoin slightly higher early Wednesday, trading at around $42,300

Bitcoin was trading 1.12% higher Wednesday morning at about $42,300.

Rivals Ethereum and Dogecoin were trading around $2,913 (+0.27%) and 20 cents (+0.19%) per coin, respectively, according to CoinDesk.

On Wednesday, South Korea banned virtual asset services providers (VASPs) and their staff from trading tokens issued by them, the country’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) said in a statement.

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Crypto services providers have been given a month to set up internal processes for the conflict of interest rules, CoinDesk reported. Failure to comply will lead to suspension of business and up to KRW 100 million ($85,000) in penalties.

The "conflict of interest rule" was passed at a cabinet meeting Tuesday, and was instituted to prevent damage to users as well as increase transparency in the industry, the FSC said.

In other cryptocurrency news, months before China’s latest crackdown, the Huobi Global cryptocurrency exchange relocated substantial operations units out of the country, primarily to crypto-friendly Singapore, former and current employees told CoinDesk.

Huobi had been trying to develop overseas operations since China’s earlier clampdown on crypto exchanges in September 2017. The following month, the company set up a separate legal entity in Singapore.

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Since then, considerable parts of operations such as business development and marketing began moving overseas, while the less-controversial technical teams remained in China, the current and former employees said.

Last Friday, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) announced the latest restrictions on cryptocurrency, CoinDesk reported.