There is a chance that the ban will be lifted or adjusted in the future as Chinese regulators have more time to review ICO funding. This is not the first time that China has taken similar action; in 2013 China prohibited the exchange of Yuan to BTC. They later removed this ruling and today China has one of the largest BTC mining operations in the world. They have one of the lowest electricity cost and this along with the cooler climate in the mountains makes China a good location for digital mining operations. It remains to be seen if they will lift this ban with the requirement for additional regulation of company ICO’s in the future.
ICO’s raised more than a Billion dollars in the first half of 2017 for new startups and projects. ICO’s are still available for companies in the USA and many other countries as a means to raise capital for new projects.
*Note – Bitcoin and Litecoin are not ICO’s and this ruling does not have a direct impact on Bitcoin or Litecoin. Of course, any related news will swing markets so dips are to be expected even when they are not directly related.