More broadly, the U.S. has been slow to issue regulatory guidance for cryptocurrency businesses. The industry has generally appreciated regulators' care and caution to avoid hampering innovation or overregulating something so misunderstood, but the lack of clarity has also become restrictive for many looking to operate, develop, and grow their products and services. But Zhao appears to be undaunted by that.
All the signs, however, were there. Like previous bubbles, people were basing their belief in the cryptocurrency on their emotions, not any intrinsic value. Then there was the FOMO element, which only compounded things. Essentially, bitcoin became an international fever. Random companies were “pivoting to blockchain” for no apparent reason other than that it seemed like a way to create buzz. But when the bubble bursts, FOMO turns into fear of losing, which makes for an especially rapid plunge.

Developed in 2012 by Toronto-based programmer Vitalik Buterin, and backed by an initial $18 million crowdfund, Ether (ETH) is a cryptocurrency that underpins a blockchain network called Ethereum. While Bitcoin was designed to be a digital currency, Ethereum is a more general implementation of blockchain technology.
OK perhaps that’s a little far-fetched. But what is behind crypto’s crazy climb over the past 18 months, we hear you ask? We don’t mean to suggest that the pandemic hasn’t been involved, because we think it has, but not in the way that this chart criminal implies — not, in other words, because it’s some kind of safe haven that traders flock to when they are worried about Covid cases rising; the data don’t bear that idea out.