There is a lot of buzz and criticism regarding digital currencies (also called cryptocurrencies or cryptocoins).
In 2017, it was not uncommon to experience financial gains of thousands of percentage points. As a result, the demand for digital currencies is primarily driven by these potential financial gains (if not the only reason).
Leading economists, investment advisors and CEOs have criticized digital currencies as not being a value-producing asset, being unable to value, having a high learning curve, being a scam, being a bubble, being a poor store of value, financing terrorism and more.
Despite these claims, "digital assets" are widely traded on various unregulated online exchanges and in futures markets regulated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
There are currently over 1400 digital currencies tracked by coinmarketcap.com. These digital currencies are designed or marketed for a variety of uses (storing value, private transactions, fast transactions, and more). Assessing the value of these digital currencies is complex. Methods and techniques to value these digital currencies are still evolving and unproven.
The value of these digital currencies is highly speculative and determined by "market forces" that are influenced by marketing campaigns, media coverage, the digital currency community, and unsourced information.
Due to their decentralized and anonymous nature, digital currencies are highly volatile, unregulated, uninsured, vulnerable to theft or hacking and often the target of various types of fraud (i.e. pump and dump scams, Ponzi schemes, price manipulation and more).
If digital currencies are to be widely adopted and accepted by society to meet their desired goals there needs to be greater transparency, trust and confidence amongst the digital currency community and traders. A voluntary Digital Currency Trading Code of Ethics is proposed to help guide those that develop, create, trade or hold digital currencies.
Link: Draft Proposal - Digital Currency Trading Code of Ethics