Investors like the volatility of crypto as they can "make a lot of money"

Investors like the volatility of crytocurrencies because they can “make a lot of money”, says a crypto firm boss, who said he would welcome more widesrpead regulation acorss the industy.

Speaking at the AlfFi Festival of Finance Mark Hipperson, CEO,  Ziglu, the crypto platform, admitted that crypto is “risky” and “volatile” but that represented its appeal for many.

He said: "One of the reasons why people do have an interest in it is because it is volatile and people can make a lot of money.

“But generally the trend has been positive over the past, you know, since 2009, it has always gone up. But there will be dips from time to time because of a range of different factors.”

The price of Bitcoin, the most well known cryptocurrency, fell below $30,000 on Tuesday amid volatile trading. It has now lost more than half its value of $64,829 in April.

Ziglu, which allows users to buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, is an FCA crypto-regulated business. But currently ,there is no regulation of crypto assets.

Hipperson said he would welcome more widespread regulation across the industry, to an extent.

“I think it will legitimise it and it is an important step. But at the same time, a bit like the internet, you don’t want to ruin it by over legislating. It has to have a degree of freedom to be able to beneficial," he said.

“And I think that freedom in terms of movement of money globally and the ability to be able, you know, connect blockchains and move money around instantly around the world and pay using cryptocurrency is really important.”

Cryptocurrencies were given a recent fillip with the news this year that JPMorgan Chase is to offer an actively managed Bitcoin fund to certain clients.

But crypto has largely been shunned by banks as an asset class.