"Because market manipulation has helped push cryptocurrencies to dizzy, grossly inflated heights, the recent falls in value have been similarly spectacular. But unlike with previous drops, the newly emerging drive to regulate the cryptocurrency market could hobble a recovery. Assuming that the likes of the SEC and FINRA begin clamping down on fraudulent trading practices, and assuming that these practices were vital to Bitcoin’s precipitous rise, then Bitcoin may very well struggle to climb as quickly in 2018 as it did in 2017.
Not only will the parties responsible for manipulative trading be inclined to sell their ill-gotten gains and run, but an increasing number of people will fully realize that the cryptocurrency market is a hive of dubious activity. That said, if greater regulation tamps down disreputable practices and brings the cryptocurrency into the regulatory mainstream, the longer-term trend may only be upward."
