Investors are still forging ahead with digital currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum despite the recent volatility. Many experts and professional investors still believe that there are unprecedented returns on offer.
Unknown territory
Investors in traditional markets are not used to seeing swings of 50 percent in a month for an asset, such as what happened to Ethereum which dropped from nearly $400 to just over $200, as well as experiencing a flash crash.
There has also been a huge correction in Bitcoin price that has seen it fall from its high of $3,000. Despite this though, predictions for digital currency are still aimed astronomically skyward. It is because of the popularity and huge increase in uptake that these digital currencies are on the rise, but also due to companies looking into the technology behind it.
Tipping point
Dave Chapman, managing director of Hong Kong-based commodities and digital assets trading house Octagon Strategy, believes that the rollercoaster ride is only just beginning and that there is a massive rise around the corner.
"We're now sort of at a tipping point, where people are now considering Bitcoin or Ethereum or digital assets as more mainstream," he told CNBC:
"A lot of the people that we service are actually very comfortable with having one percent of their net worth into Bitcoin or Ethereum. To them, it's just a natural extension of all their diversification of their portfolio.”
Return potential
Traditional investment asset classes such as properties, precious metals or index funds, are now being uttered alongside these digital investment options which offer almost fanciful return potential.
The volatility of digital currency is something that these traditional investors struggle with the most, but it is a weighing out of the pros and cons of such fluctuation and returns that are exceedingly attractive from these digital assets.
The CEO of BTCC, a Chinese Bitcoin exchange, Bobby Lee almost shrugged off the violent price swings that have been seen this week pointing towards how young digital currency is as an asset.
"It's not a problem," he said at the Rise conference in Hong Kong. "If you think about it, the volatility is natural for an asset class that is so new. There's no price discovery for it (yet)."
Of course, another factor that has many investors nervous about taking the plunge is that Bitcoin and other digital currencies are unregulated and decentralized, offering very little protection.
There are steps in countries like China, Russia and Japan, as well as Switzerland, to control cryptocurrency somewhat but without stifling it.
