The biggest event in the cryptocurrency world recently was the declaration of the Chinese authorities to turn off the exchanges on which cryptocurrencies are traded. Therefore, BTCChina, one of many largest bitcoin exchanges in China, said that it would be ceasing trading activities by the finish of September. Bitcoin Cash Token catalysed a sharp sell-off that left bitcoin (and other currencies such as Etherium) plummeting approximately 30% below the record highs which were reached earlier this month.

So, the cryptocurrency rollercoaster continues. With bitcoin having increases that surpass quadrupled values from December 2016 to September 2017, some analysts predict that it can cryptocurrencies can recover from the recent falls. Josh Mahoney, market analyst at IG comments that cryptocurrencies’ “past experience tells us that [they] will probably brush these latest challenges aside”.

However, these sentiments don’t come without opposition. Mr Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, remarked that bitcoin “isn’t likely to work” and that it “is a fraud… worse than tulip bulbs (in mention of the Dutch ‘tulip mania’ of the 17th century, recognised as the world’s first speculative bubble)… that may blow up”. He goes to the extent of saying that he would fire employees who have been stupid enough to trade in bitcoin.

Speculation aside, what is actually going on? Since China’s ICO ban, other world-leading economies are taking a fresh look into how the cryptocurrency world should/ can be regulated in their regions. Rather than banning ICOs, other countries still recognise the technological great things about crypto-technology, and are looking at controlling the marketplace without completely stifling the growth of the currencies. The big issue for these economies would be to figure out how to do this, because the alternative nature of the cryptocurrencies do not allow them to be classified under the policies of traditional investment assets.

Many of these countries include Japan, Singapore and the US. These economies seek to establish accounting standards for cryptocurrencies, mainly so as to handle money laundering and fraud, which have been rendered more elusive due to the crypto-technology. Yet, most regulators do recognise that there appears to be no real benefit to completely banning cryptocurrencies as a result of economic flows that they carry along. Also, probably since it is practically impossible to turn off the crypto-world so long as the internet exists. Regulators can only just focus on areas where they might be able to exercise some control, which appears to be where cryptocurrencies meet fiat currencies (i.e. the cryptocurrency exchanges).

While cryptocurrencies seem to come under more scrutiny as time progresses, such events do benefit some countries like Hong Kong. Since the Chinese ICO ban, many founders of cryptocurrency projects have been driven from the mainland to the town. Aurelian Menant, CEO of Gatecoin, said that the company received “a high number of inquiries from blockchain project founders located in the mainland” and that there has been an observable surge in the number of Chinese clients registering on the platform.

Looking slightly further, companies like Nvidia have expressed positivity from the function. They declare that this ICO ban will only fuel their GPU sales, because the ban will likely increase the demand for cryptocurrency-related GPUs. With the ban, the only method to acquire cryptocurrencies mined with GPUs would be to mine them with computing power. Therefore, individuals seeking to obtain cryptocurrencies in China now have to obtain more computing power, instead of making straight purchases via exchanges. Essentially, Nvidia’s sentiments is that isn’t a downhill spiral for cryptocurrencies; in fact, other industries will get a boost as well.

In light of all commotion and debate surrounding cryptocurrencies, the integration of the technology in to the global economies appear to be materialising hastily. Whether you believe in the future of the technology, or believe it is a “fraud… that will inflate”, the cryptocurrency rollercoaster is one worth your attention.