Members of the bitcoin community are starting to wonder if anarchy is the best policy, as recent turmoil raises interest in possible new regulations.

The digital currency, which is minted using computers running algorithms, had been plummeting in value for two days after soaring to above $200 a bitcoin earlier this week.

The exchange that handles the most bitcoin transactions, Mt.Gox, halted trading yesterday because of troubles, and the CEO of Coinlab, Peter Vessenes, said the exchange would be open to some oversight.

“We’d be happy to be regulated,” said Vessenes, who also is with the Bitcoin Foundation, an organizing body. “There is no self-regulatory organization for these. It’s pre-regulated right now, but we’re not anti-regulation.”

Vessenes runs North American trading for Mt.Gox. Yesterday, the market shut because of volatility, driven by a flood of new users interested in the currency and other users looking to sell at a market high point.

There was a lag in processing orders, helping fuel the panic, Vessenes said. There are some bitcoin enthusiasts who are against rules, however.

The currency, based on free open-source computer code that anyone can access, was created to stand apart from the traditional money system, and it attracted libertarians and anti-government types.

Still, the volatility in the price of bitcoins — rising from about $45 just a month ago to more than $250 this week and back down to around $100 yesterday — has some people questioning if no rules are good rules.

One venture capitalist, who was investing in bitcoin-based startups, said there need to be some rules and order before the currency can take off.

“Right now you have a bunch of anarchistic market dilettantes who don’t understand how markets work and don’t understand the perils of markets,” he said. “People who understand markets need to get involved.”