Current Bitcoin price is $97,408.56
The Bitcoin history chart below displays bitcoin’s price history chart.
Bitcoin All Time Price Chart
-
Price
Market Cap
-
-
-
- The numbers on the graph represent historical Bitcoin-related events.
- The list of events is detailed below in this page.
- Click on a number and you will be transferred to the corresponding event.
Bitcoin Price Over Years (2009-2025)
| Year | Price on Jan 1st | Price on Dec 31st | Avg. Price | % Change YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | — | — | — | — |
| 2010 | — | $0.30 | $0.06 | — |
| 2011 | $0.30 | $4.25 | $2.00 | 1,316.67% |
| 2012 | $4.25 | $13.51 | $8.00 | 217.88% |
| 2013 | $13.51 | $751.00 | $189.00 | 5,457.44% |
| 2014 | $751.00 | $320.00 | $525.00 | -57.38% |
| 2015 | $320.00 | $430.00 | $350.00 | 34.38% |
| 2016 | $430.00 | $963.00 | $600.00 | 124.19% |
| 2017 | $963.00 | $14,156.00 | $4,000.00 | 1,370.30% |
| 2018 | $14,156.00 | $3,742.70 | $7,500.00 | -73.56% |
| 2019 | $3,742.70 | $7,193.60 | $5,500.00 | 92.23% |
| 2020 | $7,193.60 | $28,949.00 | $11,000.00 | 302.52% |
| 2021 | $28,949.00 | $46,306.45 | $35,000.00 | 59.98% |
| 2022 | $46,306.45 | $16,547.50 | $30,000.00 | -64.27% |
| 2023 | $16,547.50 | $43,196.00 | $25,000.00 | 160.98% |
| 2024 | $43,196.00 | $93,429 | $70,000.00 | 116.29% |
| 2025 | $93,429 | $109,350* | $101,000.00 | 17.04% |
* – last highest price for 2025
Frequently Asked Questions
How Much was Bitcoin Worth When it Started in 2009?
How Much was Bitcoin Worth at its Peak?
How Does Bitcoin’s Price Change?
Why Does Bitcoin Go Up and Down?
How much was Bitcoin in 2010?
What was Bitcoin’s highest price?
Bitcoin Historical Events
btc-bitcoin Historical Events
A new ATH for Bitcoin as Trump wins the presidential race - November 6, 2024
On November 6th, 2024, Bitcoin reached a new all-time high of $76,243.98 once Donald J. Trump was confirmed to have won the presidential race of 2024.
Reference:
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/05/bitcoin-crypto-market-election-night.html
Bitcoin Hits 1 Billion Transactions - May 5, 2024
On May 5th, 2024, the Bitcoin network reached a significant milestone, processing its one billionth transaction. This comes 15 years and 4 months after the Bitcoin genesis block was mined on January 3, 2009.
Reference:
NASDAQ: https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/bitcoin-network-tops-1-billion-in-total-transactions-processed
Fourth Bitcoin Halving - April 19, 2024
On April 19th, 2024, Bitcoin witnessed its fourth Bitcoin Halving event, where the miner rewards for mining each Bitcoin block was halved from 6.25BTC per block to 3.125BTC per block. The event happens roughly every 4 years or precisely, every 210,000 blocks.
Reference:
Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/cryptocurrency/bitcoin-halving-2024/
Bitcoin Hits New All Time High - March 14, 2024
Following record-breaking inflows from the Spot Bitcoin ETFs and excitement driven by both Wall Street and retail investors, Bitcoin hit a new all-time high price of $73,737.94 on March 14, 2024. This excitement was further fuelled by the upcoming Bitcoin halving slated for later in the year in April, a historically bullish event for the asset.
Spot Bitcoin Application Approval in the United States - January 10, 2024
Ten years after the first Spot Bitcoin ETF application was filed in the US, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the long-awaited Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund.
The SEC did not just approve one Bitcoin ETF, but rather approved 11 Spot Bitcoin ETF applications from the likes of:
- ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB)
- Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB)
- Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust (FBTC)
- Franklin Bitcoin ETF (EZBC)
- Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC)
- Hashdex Bitcoin ETF (DEFI)
- Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF (BTCO)
- iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT)
- Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund (BRRR)
- VanEck Bitcoin Trust (HODL)
- WisdomTree Bitcoin Fund (BTCW)
- Inflow streak- an 18-day streak of net inflows
- All-Time-Daily Volume Record- The ETFs saw over $7.7b in single-day trading volume
- Largest Inflow into a Single ETF- BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust saw $788.3 million in a single day
- Highest Single Day Trading Volume for any ETF- BlackRock's Bitcoin Trust traded $3.3 billion in one day
- A record $10 Billion of inflows in less than 2 months
Major Investment Firms Refile Application for Spot Bitcoin ETF - June 21, 2023
New York-based asset management fund, WisdomTree files application for spot Bitcoin ETF. WisdomTree has applied for a spot Bitcoin ETF twice before. Its first application was rejected by the SEC in December 2021. Its second application was rejected once again in October 2022, with the financial regulator citing similar concerns of fraud and market manipulation.
Less than four hours after WisdomTree filed its application, global investment manager Invesco also reactivated its application for a similar product.
Valkyrie filed also an S-1 registration form for a Bitcoin spot ETF with the SEC on June 21. In it, the firm indicated that it would seek to list its fund on the Nasdaq under the symbol BRRR. The investment firm launched the second futures based Bitcoin ETF in the U.S. in 2021.
WisdomTree: https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/1850391/000121465923008647/p620230s1a2.htm
Invesco: https://cdn.cboe.com/resources/regulation/rule_filings/pending/2023/SR-CboeBZX-2023-038.pdf
Valkyrie: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1841175/000138713123007682/valkyrie-s1a_062123.htm
https://cointelegraph.com/news/blackrock-spot-bitcoin-etf-new-sec-filings-wisdomtree-invesco
BlackRock Files for iShares Spot Bitcoin ETF - June 15, 2023
Investment giant BlackRock filed an application for a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) using the crypto exchange Coinbase for custody and market pricing, in what would be the first spot Bitcoin ETF product of its kind in the U.S. if approved.
The new iShares Bitcoin Trust will be listed on the Nasdaq exchange and pricing will be calculated daily based on the CF CME Bitcoin Reference Rate, which “aggregates the notional value of Bitcoin trading across major Bitcoin spot exchanges,” according to the prospectus.
The product requires approval from the SEC, which has so far pushed back against multiple spot-based ETF applications.
While several institutional giants have filed spot Bitcoin ETF applications with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the past, all have either withdrawn their applications or faced outright rejections from the regulator. However, the spot Bitcoin ETF filing by the asset management giant BlackRock has increased the chances of the SEC approving the first spot Bitcoin ETF, leading to major financial institutions also filing applications to list a spot Bitcoin ETF.
https://www.investopedia.com/blackrock-files-for-a-spot-bitcoin-etf-7547609
https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/blackrock-close-filing-bitcoin-etf-coindesk-2023-06-15/
Banking Crisis Rallies Bitcoin - March 19, 2023
Bitcoin closed its best week in four years, and has gained 45% in just 12 days.
Traditional banks suffered severe crisis in the U.S and Europe. The collapse of U.S. lenders Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank eventually helped to triggered the takeover of 167-year-old Credit Suisse by rival UBS. Claims that Bitcoin is an asset immune to risks in traditional finance have started to gain real traction as Bitcoin passes the bank stress test. https://www.wsj.com/articles/bitcoin-booms-on-back-of-bank-crisis-6c388bd9 https://www.reuters.com/markets/currencies/cryptoverse-bitcoin-passes-bank-stress-test-2023-03-21/U.S. Government Sells Bitcoin Seized From Silk Road - March 14, 2023
According to a memo filed in the Southern District of New York, on March 14th the U.S. sold 9,861 of the 50,000 of Bitcoin it seized in the case of a hack of the Silk Road marketplace. The government raked in $215 million after transaction fees. The per-coin sale price of about $21,877 was $2,000 less than the going rate on that particular day.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brandonkochkodin/2023/03/31/us-government-sells-bitcoin-seized-from-silk-road-case-netting-over-215-million/
Crypto-friendly Silvergate Bank Voluntarily Closes - March 3, 2023
The price of Bitcoin fell more than 5% from $23,500 to $22,240 in just over 60 minutes on Friday, March 3, amid a wave of uncertainty concerning crypto-friendly bank Silvergate Capital. The bank issued a warning that it was evaluating its ability to operate as a going concern. The California-based company, which was a key banking partner for crypto businesses, had been hit by investors rushing to withdraw around $8 billion of deposits after the sudden bankruptcy of FTX last year.
Next week, Silvergate Capital Corp announced to close and voluntarily liquidate.
https://www.reuters.com/technology/bitcoin-steadies-near-lows-hit-after-fall-silvergate-2023-03-09/
https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-price-slides-5-in-60-minutes-hitting-two-week-low-amid-silvergate
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/09/bitcoin-ether-fall-after-go-to-crypto-bank-silvergate-announces-liquidation.html
Ordinals Protocol Introduces Bitcoin NFTs - January 21, 2023
Ordinals Protocol introduced inscriptions on Bitcoin’s mainnet in January 2023 enabling the creation of Ordinal NFTs, which are effectively non-fungible tokens on Bitcoin. The new protocol uses “inscriptions,” or arbitrary content like text or images that can be added to sequentially numbered satoshis – the smallest units in Bitcoin – to create unique digital artifacts that can be held and transferred across the Bitcoin network.
The novel project has captured the collective mindshare of both NFT lovers and haters.
Bitcoin Ordinals Timeline:
https://ordinalsbot.medium.com/ordinals-journey-a-timeline-of-events-in-the-ordinals-space-ff734c5fa563
Original Tweet from Casey Rodarmor:
https://twitter.com/rodarmor/status/1616567899719860230
MicroStrategy Sells Bitcoin for the First Time - December 29, 2022
The largest corporate buyer of Bitcoin, MicroStrategy revealed sold part of its Bitcoin stash on December 22 for tax purposes. MicroStrategy purchased 2,395 bitcoins worth about $42.8 million between November 1, 2022, and December 21, 2022. The company then sold 704 BTC for about $11.8 million on December 22 before purchasing another 810 BTC two days later. MicroStrategy explained the sale with tax planning: the company carried back the capital losses resulting from this transaction against previous capital gains.
Although the firm later purchased more Bitcoins, the sale defied its promise of never selling any portions of its BTC stash.
https://fortune.com/2022/12/29/bitcoin-evangelist-michael-saylor-microstrategy-sells-btc-for-first-time-after-spotting-tax-loophole-hodl/US Crypto Miner Core Scientific Files for Bankcrupcy - December 20, 2022
Core Scientific, one of the largest publicly traded crypto mining companies in the U.S., filed for bankruptcy. The company still generates positive cash flow, and plans to continue mining while repaying debtholders. The stock was down 98% after plunging crypto prices and rising energy prices made mining a much harder business.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/20/bitcoin-miner-core-scientific-filing-for-bankruptcy-will-keep-mining.html
European Central Bank says Bitcoin is on the “road to irrelevance” - November 30, 2022
Amid the widespread fallout in crypto markets following the collapse of the major crypto exchange, FTX, the ECB Blog took a look at where they stand with Bitcoin, saying it to on the road to irrelevance. ECB claimed in the post, Bitcoin was heading for a dead-end even before the collapse of FTX, saying Bitcoin's technological shortcomings make it a questionable means of payment as transactions are slow. The European Central Bank said in the blog post, the price spike is likely an artificial last gasp before the road to irrelevance.
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/blog/date/2022/html/ecb.blog221130~5301eecd19.en.html
https://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin-crypto-irrelevance-european-central-bank-ftx-bankman-fried-currency-2022-11
FTX Crypto Exchange Files for Bankruptcy - November 11, 2022
On November 11 2022, following a critical liquidity crisis, the world second largest cryptocurrency exchange, FTX has filed for bankruptcy, with co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried stepping down from his role as CEO. The bankruptcy became inevitable after Binance‘s CEO, CZ, backed out of a deal to purchase FTX’s non-US business.
Full story here: https://staging.99bitcoins.com/bitcoin-news-summary-nov-14-2022/
https://news.bitcoin.com/troubled-crypto-exchange-ftx-files-for-chapter-11-bankruptcy-protection-ceo-steps-down/
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/09/binance-backs-out-of-ftx-rescue-leaving-the-crypto-exchange-on-the-brink-of-collapse.html
BlackRock Launches Spot Bitcoin Private Trust - August 11, 2022
BlackRock Inc, the world's biggest asset manager, has launched a spot bitcoin private trust for institutional clients in the United States. The trust tracks the performance of bitcoin, offering direct exposure to the price of the digital currency, BlackRock said. The move comes a week after cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc said it had partnered with BlackRock to provide its institutional clients with access to crypto trading and custody services.
https://www.reuters.com/technology/blackrock-launches-spot-bitcoin-private-trust-us-clients-2022-08-11/ https://www.reuters.com/technology/coinbase-blackrock-ink-crypto-trading-partnership-targeting-institutional-2022-08-04/Tesla Sold 75% of Its Bitcoin Holdings - July 20, 2022
Tesla sold 75% of its Bitcoin, worth approximately $936 million, according to its Q2 earnings report. In its after-market earnings announcement, the electric car manufacturer founded by Elon Musk said in a shareholder presentation that “Bitcoin impairment” had a negative impact on its profitability during the second quarter, when it posted $2.5 billion in operating income.
https://decrypt.co/105594/elon-musk-tesla-sold-75-percent-bitcoin
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/07/21/investing/tesla-bitcoin-dogecoin-elon-musk/index.html
Troubled Crypto Lender Celsius Files for Bankruptcy - July 14, 2022
U.S. crypto lender Celsius Network filed for bankruptcy in New York.
New Jersey-based Celsius froze withdrawals one month earlier, citing "extreme" market conditions, cutting off access to savings for individual investors and sending tremors through the crypto market.
In a court filing at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Southern District of New York, Celsius estimated its assets and liabilities as between $1 billion to $10 billion, with more than 100,000 creditors. The company has $167 million in cash on hand.
https://www.reuters.com/technology/crypto-lender-celsius-files-bankruptcy-2022-07-14/MicroStrategy Buys $10M of Bitcoin - June 29, 2022
Cloud software company MicroStrategy announced another Bitcoin purchase, spending this time $10 million on BTC.
https://www.microstrategy.com/en/investor-relations/financial-documents/microstrategy-acquires-additional-480-bitcoins_06-29-2022
https://decrypt.co/104076/microstrategy-buys-more-bitcoin-despite-price-crash-20k
Crypto Lender Celsius Pauses Withdrawals - June 13, 2022
Cryptocurrency lending platform, Celsius paused all withdrawals, causing more pain in the fragile crypto market.
“Due to extreme market conditions, today we are announcing that Celsius is pausing all withdrawals, Swap, and transfers between accounts” - the company said in a memo to clients.https://medium.com/p/a-memo-to-the-celsius-community-59532a06ecc6 https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/13/crypto-lender-celsius-pauses-withdrawals-bitcoin-slides.html
Luna and terraUSD Crashes Crypto Market - May 7, 2022
The Terra network and its leader, Do Kwon, rose to the highest tier of the crypto world thanks to big-shot investors, only to fall apart within a few days in May 2022.
On May 7, the price of the then-$18-billion algorithmic stablecoin terraUSD (UST), which is supposed to maintain a $1 peg, started to wobble and fell to 35 cents on May 9. Its companion token, LUNA, which was meant to stabilize UST's price, fell from $80 to a few cents by May 12. Luna Foundation Guard, the nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the Luna ecosystem confirmed it depleted its BTC reserves from around 80,000 Bitcoins to 313 bitcoins during the attempt to save UST’s peg. This eventually lead to the largest crypto crash ever, with an estimated $60 billion wipeout, shaking the complete global digital currency market.
https://www.coindesk.com/learn/the-fall-of-terra-a-timeline-of-the-meteoric-rise-and-crash-of-ust-and-luna/
Central African Republic Becomes Second Country to Adopt Bitcoin as Legal Tender - April 27, 2022
The Central African Republic has become the second country in the world to adopt bitcoin as official currency after El Salvador took the same step in 2021. Lawmakers in the CAR’s parliament voted unanimously to pass a bill legalizing bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin is considered legal tender alongside the regional Central African CFA franc.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/28/central-african-republic-adopts-bitcoin-as-legal-tender.html
https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/central-african-republic-adopts-bitcoin-an-official-currency-2022-04-27/
U.S. Announced Crypto Executive Order - March 3, 2022
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies surged after President Joe Biden announced his highly anticipated executive order on digital assets. The executive order attempts to address the lack of a framework for the development of cryptocurrencies in the U.S., and has been broadly welcomed by the industry and its investors. Critics have said the lack of regulatory clarity could hold the U.S. back when it comes to crypto for the rest of the world to leapfrog. The lack of regulatory clarity has also been cited often as the barrier to greater institutional adoption in the crypto market.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/09/bitcoin-btc-jumps-after-treasury-statement-on-crypto-executive-order.html
https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-to-order-study-of-cryptocurrency-risk-creation-of-u-s-digital-currency-11646823600
Bitcoin Trading Against the Ruble Surges as Russia’s Currency Crashes - February 28, 2022
Ruble/Bitcoin trading volume has surged as the Russian currency collapsed against the dollar in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted rapid and sweeping sanctions from North America and the European Union, including Russia’s ejection from parts of the SWIFT international payments system and a ban on deals with Russia’s central bank. As the ruble collapsed, the Bank of Russia is prevented from selling its forex reserves to mitigate the damage.
https://decrypt.co/94004/bitcoin-trading-against-the-ruble-surges-as-russias-currency-crashes
https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2022/02/28/ruble-denominated-bitcoin-volumes-surges-to-9-month-highs/?outputType=amp
Coinbase ‘Free Bitcoin’ Super Bowl Ad Causes Site to Briefly Crash - February 14, 2022
Coinbase made the first big crypto splash during the Super Bowl after the company aired a bold commercial that consisted of nothing but a QR code floating around the screen for 60 seconds. The ad also quickly flashed a Coinbase URL at the end, leading to a website displaying a promotion for $15 in free Bitcoin for new customers who sign up in the next two days. The Coinbase commercial appeared to be a success—perhaps too much of one. Shortly after it aired, people tweeted that the company's site and app had crashed.
https://decrypt.co/92856/coinbase-super-bowl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIUD_NE1BDo
DOJ Seized $3.6Bn Bitcoin from Bitfinex hack - February 8, 2022
The Department of Justice announced it seized more than $3.6 billion in allegedly stolen bitcoin linked to the 2016 hack of Bitfinex. As part of the operation, authorities detained a New York couple on allegations they planned to launder the digital goods.
Authorities accuse the pair of trying to launder the proceeds of 119,754 bitcoin that were stolen from Bitfinex’s platform after a hacker breached Bitfinex’s systems and initiated more than 2,000 unauthorized transactions.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/08/feds-seize-3point6-billion-stolen-from-bitfinex-hack.html
https://www.wired.com/story/bitcoin-seizure-record-doj-crypto-tracing-monero/
El Salvador Builds Bitcoin City from $1Bn Bitcoin Bonds - November 21, 2021
El Salvador plans to build the world’s first “Bitcoin City”, funded initially by $1 billion worth of Bitcoin-backed bonds. President Nayib Bukele the city planned in the eastern region of La Union would get geothermal power from a volcano and not levy any taxes except for value-added tax (VAT).
https://www.ft.com/content/67515f23-ccdc-4dbc-a184-70848e183ac3
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-59368483
Bitcoin’s Biggest Upgrade in 4 Years Goes Live - November 14, 2021
The first bitcoin upgrade in four years is called Taproot was activated. The Taproot update means greater transaction privacy and efficiency – and crucially, it will unlock the potential for smart contracts, which can be used to eliminate middlemen from transactions.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/14/bitcoin-taproot-upgrade-what-it-means-for-investors.html
https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2021/11/13/taproot-bitcoins-long-anticipated-upgrade-activates-this-weekend/
First Bitcoin ETF Launches in the U.S. - October 19, 2021
ProShares Bitcoin Strategy was the first bitcoin ETF to launch in the United States. The fund, which trades under the ticker BITO on NYSE, tracks Bitcoin (BTCUSD) prices through futures contracts traded at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).
The first US-listed bitcoin exchange-traded funds launched after the deadline passed for an objection from SEC, America’s top securities regulator. US Securities and Exchange Commission had not formally approved the creation of bitcoin futures ETF but no formal declaration of approval was needed from the Agency. The event marks the culmination of an eight-year battle to win approval.
Bitcoin has rallied to a record high a day after a bitcoin exchange-traded fund launched on Wall Street for the first time, garnering strong demand in a sign of the booming investor interest in the asset class.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/15/the-first-bitcoin-futures-etf-in-the-us-is-set-to-begin-trading-next-week.html
https://www.ft.com/content/d7601039-e98e-47c8-97af-79f96c2c3d94
China Bans All Cryptocurrency Transactions - September 24, 2021
China declared that all crypto-related transactions will be considered illicit – including services provided to offshore exchanges according to the announcement made by the People’s Bank of China. It added that cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Tether, are not fiat currencies and cannot be circulated.
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-central-bank-vows-crackdown-cryptocurrency-trading-2021-09-24/
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/9/24/bbbitcoin-slumps-as-china-bans-all-cryptocurrency-transactions
Twitter Enables Bitcoin Tipping - September 23, 2021
Twitter is turning on the ability to ask for tips in Bitcoin through its app, making it the first major social network to encourage use of the cryptocurrency as a method of payment. Besides Bitcoin, Twitter lets users connect nine traditional payment providers, including Venmo and Cash App, to their profiles to accept tips. The Bitcoin tips are facilitated by Strike, a Bitcoin wallet app that runs on the Lightning Network protocol.
https://www.theverge.com/2021/9/23/22689806/twitter-bitcoin-lightning-tipping-nft-authentication
Bitcoin Fans Unveils Statue of Bitcoin Founder Satoshi Nakamoto - September 17, 2021
A bronze statue paying homage to the anonymous creator of Bitcoin has been unveiled in Hungary. The statue of Nakamoto shows a plain face, wrapped in a bronze hoodie that is marked with the Bitcoin logo. It is also heavily polished to make it reflective like a mirror in which viewers can see themselves.
The statue’s creators say it is the first in the world to honour the mysterious cryptocurrency creator Satoshi Nakamoto, a pseudonym for the Bitcoin inventor or inventors, whose identity is unknown.
https://www.euronews.com/next/2021/09/17/hungary-s-bitcoin-fans-unveil-faceless-statue-of-mysterious-crypto-founder-satoshi-nakamot
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-09-17/hungary-statue-honoring-mysterious-bitcoin-founder-unveiled
Bitcoin Becomes a Legal Tender in El Salvador - September 7, 2021
El Salvador became the first country to make Bitcoin legal tender. The government even went a step further in promoting the cryptocurrency’s use by giving US$30 in free bitcoins to citizens who sign up for its national digital wallet, known as “Chivo,” or “cool” in English. Foreigners who invest three bitcoins in the country will be granted residency.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/el-salvador-becomes-first-country-to-approve-bitcoin-as-legal-tender-11623234476?mod=article_inline
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-25/el-salvador-offers-30-of-bitcoin-to-citizens-to-boost-its-use
AMC Will Accept Bitcoin - August 9, 2021
AMC will begin accepting Bitcoin payments for concessions and theater tickets as soon as the end of the year, marking the latest development in AMC’s hard lean into memestock superstardom. During the company’s second-quarter earnings call, AMC boss Adam Aron kicked off the Bitcoin bullet point by noting, unsurprisingly, that many of AMC’s new shareholders are quite enthusiastic about cryptocurrency.
https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/10/22617594/amc-bitcoin-memestock-apple-google-pay
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/09/amc-says-it-will-accept-bitcoin-as-payment-for-movie-tickets-by-year-end.html
Amazon Rumours Tumble Bitcoin - July 26, 2021
A job posting from the retail giant, Amazon had stirred questions among analysts over whether the move could eventually lead to Amazon accepting Bitcoin as a method of payment. The report citing an unnamed “insider”, sent the world’s biggest cryptocurrency up as much as 14 percent. Later the day however Amazon denied a media report saying the e-commerce giant was looking to accept bitcoin payments by the end of the year.
“Notwithstanding our interest in the space, the speculation that has ensued around our specific plans for cryptocurrencies is not true. We remain focused on exploring what this could look like for customers shopping on Amazon.” - said a spokesperson from Amazonhttps://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/amazon-denies-report-accepting-bitcoin-payment-2021-07-26/ https://www.wsj.com/articles/bitcoin-jumps-20-to-a-six-week-high-11627287544
Square Is Building Decentralized Finance Business Using Bitcoin - July 15, 2021
Payments company Square is launching a business dedicated to “decentralized financial services” using bitcoin. Square CEO and bitcoin bull Jack Dorsey said on Twitter that
“Square is focused on building an open developer platform with the sole goal of making it easy to create non-custodial, permissionless, and decentralized financial services.”https://twitter.com/jack/status/1415765941904941061 https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/16/square-is-building-a-decentralized-finance-business-for-bitcoin.html
Square Plans to Make a Bitcoin Hardware Wallet - July 9, 2021
Payments company Square Inc (SQ.N) confirmed they will make a hardware wallet for Bitcoin. The firm decided to build a hardware wallet and service to make bitcoin custody more mainstream.
https://www.reuters.com/business/square-plans-make-hardware-wallet-bitcoin-2021-07-09/
China’s Crackdown on Cryptocurrency Mining - June 19, 2021
Chinese authorities in the south-west province of Sichuan ordered bitcoin mining projects to close. China’s largest bitcoin-producing provinces have intensified a crackdown on cryptocurrency mining in the latest sign of how authorities are toughening their stance on the rapidly growing digital asset markets.
https://www.reuters.com/technology/chinas-cryptocurrency-mining-crackdown-spreads-sichuan-2021-06-19/
https://www.ft.com/content/7526f514-9f36-4dbb-94ee-beb061f5cc52
U.S. Department of Justice Seizes $2Mln in Bitcoin - June 7, 2021
The Justice Department has seized 63.7 bitcoins currently valued at approximately $2.3 million from the ransom paid by Colonial Pipeline Co, cracking down on hackers who launched the most disruptive U.S. cyberattack on record.
On May 7, Colonial Pipeline was the victim of a highly publicized ransomware attack resulting in the company taking portions of its infrastructure out of operation. Colonial Pipeline reported to the FBI that its computer network was accessed by an organization named DarkSide and that it had received and paid a ransom demand for approximately 75 bitcoins.
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-seizes-23-million-cryptocurrency-paid-ransomware-extortionists-darkside
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-announce-recovery-millions-colonial-pipeline-ransomware-attack-2021-06-07/
El Salvador’s President Proposes Using Bitcoin As Legal Tender - June 6, 2021
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele announced in a recorded message played at a Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami he proposed legislation to the country's congress that would make the cryptocurrency legal tender in the Central American nation.
https://www.dw.com/en/el-salvador-plans-to-make-bitcoin-legal-tender/a-57790431
https://www.npr.org/2021/06/06/1003755600/bitcoin-cryptocurrency-money-el-salvador
Elon Musk Tweets Broken-Heart Emoji for Bitcoin - June 4, 2021
Bitcoin’s price fell after Elon Musk posted a tweet suggesting he’s fallen out of love with the world’s top cryptocurrency. The billionaire Tesla CEO tweeted a meme about a couple breaking up over the male partner quoting Linkin Park lyrics, adding the hashtag #Bitcoin and a broken heart emoji.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/04/bitcoin-falls-after-elon-musk-tweets-breakup-meme.html#Bitcoin 💔 pic.twitter.com/lNnEfMdtJf
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 4, 2021
China Bans Financial Institutions from Cryptocurrency Business - May 19, 2021
China has banned financial institutions and payment companies from providing services related to cryptocurrency transactions and warned investors against speculative crypto trading. Under the ban, such institutions, including banks and online payments channels, must not offer clients any service involving cryptocurrencies, such as registration, trading, clearing and settlement. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and the State Council said in a statement that tighter regulation is needed to protect the financial system.
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/what-beijings-new-crackdown-means-crypto-china-2021-05-19/
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/21/bitcoin-falls-after-china-calls-for-crackdown-on-bitcoin-mining-and-trading-behavior.html
Tesla No Longer Accepts Bitcoin - May 12, 2021
Tesla Inc. is no longer accepting Bitcoin for car purchases, as Chief Executive Elon Musk cites long-brewing environmental concerns for a swift reversal in the company’s position on the cryptocurrency. Musk tweeted his decision to suspend its use, less than two months after Tesla began accepting the world’s biggest digital currency for payment.
https://www.reuters.com/technology/tesla-stops-taking-bitcoin-cites-fossil-fuel-use-mining-cybercurrency-2021-05-12/
https://www.ft.com/content/052853fa-9816-4624-8dd3-6321c01ac875
Bitcoin hits new all-time high above $63,000 ahead of Coinbase debut - April 13, 2021
Bitcoin surged to a fresh record high of more than $63,000, as investors awaited the highly-anticipated stock market debut of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase. Coinbase went go public on April 14 through a direct listing that valued the company at as much as $100 billion. Crypto investors are hailing the company’s stock market debut as a major milestone for the industry after years of skepticism from Wall Street and regulators.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/13/bitcoin-hits-new-all-time-high-above-62000-ahead-of-coinbase-debut.html
https://www.reuters.com/technology/bitcoin-hits-record-high-62575-2021-04-13/
Tesla Accept Bitcoin as Payment - March 24, 2021
Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla said that the company would accept Bitcoin as payment for cars in the United States, a move that is at odds with the company’s image as an environmentally friendly electric-car maker. Tesla will hold the digital currency, rather than convert payments to dollars, and handle the crypto transactions internally, Mr. Musk said.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/24/business/elon-musk-tesla-bitcoin.html
https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/24/22347905/tesla-bitcoin-payment-us-cryptocurrency-elon-musk
You can now buy a Tesla with Bitcoin
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2021
Morgan Stanley becomes the first big U.S. bank to offer its wealthy clients access to bitcoin funds - March 17, 2021
The investment bank told its financial advisors in an internal memo that it is launching access to three funds that enable ownership of bitcoin. Two of the funds on offer are from Galaxy Digital, a crypto firm founded by Mike Novogratz, while the third is a joint effort from asset manager FS Investments and bitcoin company NYDIG. Morgan Stanley is only allowing its wealthier clients access to the volatile asset. The bank considers it suitable for people with “an aggressive risk tolerance” who have at least $2 million in assets held by the firm. Investment firms need at least $5 million at the bank to qualify for the new stakes.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/17/bitcoin-morgan-stanley-is-the-first-big-us-bank-to-offer-wealthy-clients-access-to-bitcoin-funds.html
Square buys $170 million worth of bitcoin - February 23, 2021
Square bought $170 million worth of bitcoin, the company revealed in its fiscal fourth-quarter financial report. The company said it purchased approximately 3,318 bitcoins, expanding on its October 2020 buy of 4,709. Square said it represents about 5% of the company’s total assets as of the end of 2020.
https://investors.squareup.com/news/news-details/2021/Square-Inc.-Announces-Fourth-Quarter-and-Full-Year-2020-Results/default.aspx
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/23/square-buys-170-million-worth-of-bitcoin.html
Canada Approves First Bitcoin ETF - February 12, 2021
Canada's main securities regulator has cleared the launch of the world's first bitcoin exchange traded fund, providing investors greater access to the cryptocurrency that has sparked an explosion in trading interest. The Ontario Securities Commission has approved the launch of Purpose Bitcoin ETF, Toronto-based asset management company Purpose Investments Inc.
"The ETF will be the first in the world to invest directly in physically settled Bitcoin, not derivatives, allowing investors easy and efficient access to the emerging asset class of cryptocurrency," Purpose Investments said.https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/canadian-regulator-clears-launch-worlds-first-bitcoin-etf-investment-manager-2021-02-12/
Tesla Buys $1.5 billion in Bitcoin - February 8, 2021
Tesla announced it has bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said it bought the bitcoin for
“more flexibility to further diversify and maximize returns on our cash.”Tesla also said it will start accepting payments in bitcoin in exchange for its products subject to applicable laws and initially on a limited basis. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/08/tesla-buys-1point5-billion-in-bitcoin.html https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/08/tesla-buys-1-5b-in-bitcoin-may-accept-the-cryptocurrency-as-payment-in-the-future/
Bitcoin spikes 20% after Elon Musk adds #bitcoin to his Twitter bio - January 29, 2021
Bitcoin skyrocketed as much as 20% after Elon Musk added the hashtag #bitcoin to his Twitter bio. He also sent out a cryptic tweet, saying:
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1355068728128516101?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1355068728128516101%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnbc.com%2F2021%2F01%2F29%2Fbitcoin-spikes-20percent-after-elon-musk-adds-bitcoin-to-his-twitter-bio.html
Ripple (XRP) Plunges as SEC Argues the Cryptocurrency Isn’t a Currency - December 23, 2020
The price of cryptocurrency XRP plunged after the SEC filed a lawsuit alleging that Ripple Labs, a blockchain company that supports the digital currency, sold more than $1 billion of XRP virtual tokens without registering with the agency. According to the SEC's lawsuit, the duo ignored legal advice that the cryptocurrency could be considered an investment contract and therefore was a security.
https://www.thestreet.com/video/xrp-plunges-as-sec-argues-the-cryptocurrency-isnt-a-currency
Coinbase Files for IPO - December 18, 2020
Cryptocurrency brokerage Coinbase has filed a draft registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, paving the way for plans for an eventual initial public offering.
In the company’s last fundraising round, Coinbase was valued near $8 billion. That figure, however, is from 2018, and it’s likely Coinbase will seek a much higher valuation owing to the booming crypto market and the recent surge in demand for IPOs.
https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-announces-confidential-submission-of-draft-registration-statement-b140a9dfc9f5
https://fortune.com/2020/12/17/coinbase-ipo-cryptocurrency-initial-public-offering-stock/
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/18/business/dealbook/coinbase-ipo-bitcoin.html
Bitcoin Passes $20k For The First Time, Leaving 2017’s All Time High Price Behind - December 16, 2020
On this date, Bitcoin reached a new all time high above $20k, bypassing 2017's record price. Bitcoin's price soared in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic as investors have found Bitcoin more and more attractive as the US dollar weakened.
Bitcoin reached its previous all time high of ~$20,000 on December 18, 2017. That price rally is attributed mainly to speculation and the ICO craze that was going around at the time.
Read more: Bitcoin All Time High (ATH) - How Much Was 1 Bitcoin Worth at Its Peak? | 99Bitcoins
169-Year-Old MassMutual Invests $100 Million in Bitcoin - December 10, 2020
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. has purchased $100 million in Bitcoin for its general investment fund, the latest mainstream firm to dabble in digit assets. The mutual insurer also acquired a $5 million minority equity stake in NYDIG that provides cryptocurrency services to institutions. NYDIG will provide custody services for MassMutual’s Bitcoins.
The investment in Bitcoin will represent 0.04% of the general investment account of nearly $235 billion as of Sept. 30, MassMutual said.
“We see this initial investment as a first step, and like any investment, may explore future opportunities,” spokeswoman Chelsea Haraty said in an email.https://finance.yahoo.com/news/169-old-insurer-massmutual-invests-201510585.html https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-10/169-year-old-insurer-massmutual-invests-100-million-in-bitcoin https://www.coindesk.com/massmutual-buys-100m-bitcoin-bets-on-institutional-adoption-with-5m-nydig-stake
MicroStrategy Is Raising Money So It Can Buy More Crypto - December 8, 2020
In a statement released, US software firm MicroStrategy plans to raise $400 million through convertible bonds to buy more Bitcoin. Proceeds from the debt sale will be invested in bitcoin if they aren't required for general corporate needs, the statement said. The business-intelligence group first purchased $450 million worth of bitcoin in August and bought another $50 million of the crypto asset in December.
CEO Michael Saylor explained to CoinDesk that his venture into bitcoin emerged from the realization that the company's $500 million cash pile was shrinking as an effect of federal stimulus measures eroding the value of dollars.
"What we're trying to do is preserve our treasury," he said. "The purchasing power of the cash is debasing rapidly."https://ir.microstrategy.com/news-releases/news-release-details/microstrategy-announces-proposed-private-offering-400-million https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/microstrategy-plans-raise-400-million-private-offering-buy-more-bitcoin-2020-12-1029872851
Leaked Citibank Report Reveals Bitcoin Could Rocket To $300,000 Price By End Of 2021 - November 16, 2020
A leaked report from Wall Street giant Citibank has revealed a senior analyst thinks bitcoin could potentially hit a high of $318,000 by December 2021, calling it "21st century gold."
Thomas Fitzpatrick, global head of the company’s CitiFXTechnicals market insight product, solely intended his report for the bank’s institutional clients. Fitzpatrick pointed to bitcoin’s weekly chart and used technical analysis (TA) of prior highs and lows to determine a target of $318,000 by December 2021.
https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/citibank-analyst-says-bitcoin-could-pass-%24300k-by-december-2021-2020-11-16
https://www.forbes.com/sites/billybambrough/2020/11/19/leaked-citibank-report-reveals-bitcoin-could-rocket-to-300000-price-by-end-of-2021/?sh=fa5ce556eabd
US Government Seized $1 Billion in Bitcoin from Dark Web Marketplace Silk Road - November 5, 2020
The Department of Justice announced that it had seized the wallet’s contents as part of a civil forfeiture case targeting the Silk Road. The government said it retrieved the roughly 70,000 bitcoins with the help of an unnamed hacker, whose identity is known to the government but who is simply referred to as “Individual X” in court documents. “Individual X” allegedly hacked the Silk Road’s payments system sometime in 2012 or 2013.
https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/6/21552339/us-goverment-seizes-1-billion-bitcoin-profits-silk-road-wallet-individual-x
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-54833130
PayPal Allows Bitcoin and Crypto Spending - October 21, 2020
PayPal has entered the cryptocurrency market, announcing that its customers will be able to buy and sell Bitcoin and other virtual currencies using their PayPal accounts.
PayPal has been granted a conditional Bitlicense by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). The license will enable PayPal to launch a new service that will enable its customers to:
- Buy, hold, and sell cryptocurrency (initially Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin) directly within the PayPal digital wallet.
- Use the cryptocurrencies as a funding source for purchases at its 26 million merchants.
OKEx Exchange Suspending Withdrawals As Private Key Holder is Out of Contact - October 16, 2020
Bitcoin’s price dropped after crypto exchange OKEx suspended withdrawals. The move happened after OKEx announced an indefinite suspension of withdrawals due to one of its private key holders being out of contact with the exchange, reportedly because they are being held by police.
https://www.coindesk.com/okex-suspends-withdrawals
https://www.okex.com/support/hc/en-us/articles/360051090391-Suspension-of-Digital-assets-Cryptocurrencies-Withdrawals
Asset Manager Stone Ridge Reveals 10,000 Bitcoin Purchase - October 13, 2020
Through partially-owned subsidiary New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG), Stone Ridge Holdings Group has accumulated 10,000 bitcoin, valued at approximately $115 million at the time of the news reported by Forbes.
This investment has purportedly been in the works for over three years. Forbes reports that in 2017, staff at Stone Ridge were personally accumulating so much bitcoin that internal auditors had to look into the cryptocurrency. Once word got out about this, "the firm's clients increasingly wanted to express the same thesis." The company's co-founder, Robert Gutmann, said himself to Forbes that "the long term growth of an open-source monetary system - in assets like bitcoin.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeldelcastillo/2020/10/13/stone-ridge-reveals-115-million-bitcoin-investment-as-part-of-billion-dollar-spin-off/
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nydig-raises-50m-in-growth-equity-funding-nydig-parent-stone-ridge-holdings-group-announces-more-than-100m-in-bitcoin-as-primary-treasury-reserve-asset-301151162.html
Square Buys $50 Million in Bitcoin Using 99Bitcoins’ Guide - October 8, 2020
Payments platform Square has purchased $50 million in Bitcoin, part of its larger investment in cryptocurrency. Square bought a total of 4,709 Bitcoins, which the company says represents about 1 percent of its total assets as of the end of the second quarter.
Square said it was making the purchase because it believes
“bitcoin has the potential to be a more ubiquitous currency in the future,” calling cryptocurrency “an instrument of economic empowerment” that “provides a way for the world to participate in a global monetary system.”Jack Dorsey, Square's and Twitter's CEO tweeted a whitepaper on Twitter describing how the company purchased Bitcoin on the OTC market, which used 99Bitcoins' detailed guide as a reference. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanponciano/2020/10/08/billionaire-founded-square-invests-50-million-in-bitcoin-pushing-shares-to-all-time-high/#28edab2d4b33 https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/jack-dorsey-how-square-invested-in-bitcoin-2020-10-1029665366 https://images.ctfassets.net/2d5q1td6cyxq/5sXNrlEh2mEnTvvhgtYOm2/737bcfdc15e2a1c3cbd9b9451710ce54/Square_Inc._Bitcoin_Investment_Whitepaper.pdf
Owners of BitMEX, a Leading Bitcoin Exchange, Face Criminal Charges - October 1, 2020
American authorities brought criminal charges against the owners of one of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency trading exchanges, BitMEX, accusing them of allowing the Hong Kong-based company to launder money and engage in other illegal transactions.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan indicted the chief executive of BitMEX, Arthur Hayes, and three co-owners: Benjamin Delo, Samuel Reed and Gregory Dwyer. Mr. Reed was arrested in Massachusetts, while the other three men remained at large, authorities said.
The Department of Justice brought criminal charges against the owners and executive for violating rules under the Bank Secrecy Act that require financial institutions to maintain anti-money laundering controls.
https://www.ft.com/content/1672e8fe-1072-448a-92e7-cde9cb6dce6f
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/01/technology/bitmex-bitcoin-criminal-charges.html
Kucoin Exchange Hacked for $150 Million in Bitcoin - September 25, 2020
Cryptocurrency exchange Kucoin has been hacked for $150 million in bitcoin and multiple ERC20 tokens.
The Seychelles-registered exchange confirmed the security breach, but did not disclose the amount stolen first.
“Bitcoin, ERC-20 and, other tokens in Kucoin’s hot wallets were transferred out of the exchange,” said Kucoin in an update..Meanwhile, Bitfinex and Tether, issuers of the centralized stablecoin USDT, immediately froze a combined $33 million worth of USDT suspected to be part of the funds looted in the Kucoin hack – an action that has stirred questions around the influence of centralized platforms. Kucoin maintained that funds in its cold wallets (offline storage, which is less susceptible to hacks) are safe, even as the hot wallets were hit. https://www.kucoin.com/news/en-kucoin-security-incident-update https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-price-unfazed-after-150m-hack-of-major-exchange-kucoin
Someone Lost $16M in Bitcoin by Using a Malicious Install of the Electrum Wallet - August 31, 2020
In post on GitHub, the individual described the loss of more than 1,400 bitcoin (worth around $16.2 million) as a result of "foolishly" installing an old version of the lightweight wallet.
Going by the username "1400BitcoinStolen," they described how a pop-up message asked to update their security prior to being allowed to transfer any funds.
Upon installing a purported "security update" for the wallet, it immediately triggered a transfer of the user's entire balance to an address in the possession of a hacker.
Binance's CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao has moved to blacklist the stolen funds from his exchange, stating users should "beware of this Electrum official update."
Electrum has been around since 2011 and has gone through multiple updates while also being unable to stop bad actors exploiting previous versions by Sybil attacks using malicious servers.
https://www.coindesk.com/loses-16m-bitcoin-crypto-install-malicious-electrum-wallet
https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/issues/5072#issuecomment-683356052
U.S. Seizes Bitcoin Said to Be Used to Finance Terrorist Groups - August 14, 2020
Federal agents have seized millions of dollars worth of bitcoin that terrorist organizations were using to carry out their violent campaigns according to the US Department of Justice.
As part of the operation, officials also seized a website and four Facebook pages that ISIS was using to sell fake personal protective equipment.
The seizure was just one part of a broader crackdown on the financial operations behind terrorist groups.
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/global-disruption-three-terror-finance-cyber-enabled-campaigns
https://www.businessinsider.com/us-redirected-bitcoin-al-qaeda-hamas-cryptocurrency-2020-8
NASDAQ-listed MicroStrategy Buy 21,453 Bitcoin as Primary Reserve Asset - August 11, 2020
Business Intelligence (BI) giant MicroStrategy has revealed that it has purchased 21,453 Bitcoins (BTC) for $250 million.
The purchase is part of a strategic realignment of the company adopting Bitcoin as its primary treasury reserve asset.
Announced with the company’s Q2 2020 results, MicroStrategy’s new strategy sought to invest in “alternative” assets. MicroStrategy CEO Michael J. Saylor said the company’s new strategy aims to maximize long-term value for its shareholders:
This investment reflects our belief that Bitcoin, as the world’s most widely-adopted cryptocurrency, is a dependable store of value and an attractive investment asset with more long-term appreciation potential than holding cash. Since its inception over a decade ago, Bitcoin has emerged as a significant addition to the global financial system, with characteristics that are useful to both individuals and institutions. MicroStrategy has recognized Bitcoin as a legitimate investment asset that can be superior to cash and accordingly has made Bitcoin the principal holding in its treasury reserve strategy.https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200811005331/en/MicroStrategy-Adopts-Bitcoin-Primary-Treasury-Reserve-Asset https://www.investopedia.com/microstrategy-jumps-after-tying-fortunes-to-bitcoin-5074464
US Regulator Green-Lights Banks for Cryptocurrency Custody Services - July 22, 2020
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has clarified that national banks and federal savings associations can provide cryptocurrency custody services for customers. The OCC sees banks providing crypto custody services as “a modern form of traditional bank activities related to custody services.”
https://www.occ.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2020/nr-occ-2020-98.html
https://news.bitcoin.com/us-regulator-banks-cryptocurrency-custody/
Twitter Accounts Hacked by Bitcoin Thieves - July 15, 2020
Crypto hackers took over the Twitter accounts of prominent users including Bill Gates, Kanye West, Elon Musk and Barack Obama and many more.
The Bitcoin wallet where followers were asked to send money received more than $118,000 before Twitter locked down all verified accounts to shut down the scam.
Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter sent out the following tweet to address the situation:
Tough day for us at Twitter. We all feel terrible this happened. We’re diagnosing and will share everything we can when we have a more complete understanding of exactly what happened.Twitter put out a blog post confirming that 130 accounts were targeted and the hackers were able to initiative a password reset, log in to the account, and send tweets for 45 of those accounts. Twitter also said that the hackers were able to download account data belonging to eight unverified users. The cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has stopped around 1,100 customers from sending around $280,000 in bitcoin to hackers who gained access to high-profile Twitter accounts. Following a widespread investigation a 17-year-old Tampa teenager was arrested in Florida for allegedly being the “mastermind” behind the July 15 Twitter hack. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/353395 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/15/technology/twitter-hack-bill-gates-elon-musk.html https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/20/21331499/coinbase-twitter-hack-elon-musk-bill-gates-joe-biden-bitcoin-scam https://www.tampabay.com/news/crime/2020/08/01/twitter-teen-makes-first-court-appearance-in-tampa/
Researchers Expose Flaw in Bitcoin Wallets - July 2, 2020
Blockchain sleuths at Zengo, a wallet startup, have found a vulnerability that affected at least three major competing crypto wallets – Ledger Live, Edge and Breadwallet (BRD) – and potentially more.
The bug, which the Tel Aviv-based firm calls BigSpender, allows a hacker to double-spend a user’s funds and possibly prevent them from ever using their wallet again. It works by exploiting how certain wallet’s handle Bitcoin’s replace-by-fee (RBF) function, a failsafe that enables users to swap an unconfirmed transaction with one that has a higher fee.
Ledger and BRD have released code changes to prevent the attack from happening, and paid undisclosed bug bounties to Zengo, while Edge was undergoing a “significant refactor” to address the issue.
https://www.coindesk.com/researchers-expose-flaw-in-bitcoin-wallets-that-could-be-exploited-for-double-spending
New Zealand Police Seize $91 Million From Russian Bitcoin Exchange Operator - June 22, 2020
Police in New Zealand confiscated NZ$140 million ($91 million) from Russian bitcoin exchange operator Alexander Vinnik.
The funds were seized from bank accounts held by Canton Business Corporation, a New Zealand-registered company managing the exchange. Vinnik is the alleged owner of the collapsed BTC-e exchange. BTC-e exchange operated without anti-money laundering controls and policies, allowing criminals to launder illicit funds through the bourse.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/23/new-zealand-makes-its-biggest-ever-asset-seizure-over-alleged-vast-bitcoin-ring
https://news.bitcoin.com/new-zealand-police-seize-91-million-from-russian-bitcoin-exchange-operator/
Bitcoin Miners in China Ordered to Shut Down in ‘Orderly Manner’ - May 25, 2020
Regulators in China’s Sichuan region have sent a notice to all cryptocurrency businesses within their jurisdiction to call for a swift end to all mining and mining-related activities. Municipal administrators and subordinate offices in Sichuan have also been directed to “guide” miners to shut down their operations “in an orderly manner.”
The mandate is particularly significant because of the sheer amount of Bitcoin hash power (computing power) that is generated from the regions.
https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/news/bitcoin-miners-in-sichuan-province-ordered-to-shut-down-in-orderly-manner/
Third Bitcoin Halving - May 11, 2020
The reward per block mined on bitcoin’s blockchain was reduced to 6.25 BTC from 12.5 BTC at 19:23 UTC.
The first block in the new 6.25-bitcoin-per-block mining cycle was mined and relayed by China-based Antpool, the fourth-largest mining pool by total computing power. In an homage to Satoshi Nakamoto’s iconic “brink of a second bailout” message in the 2009 genesis block, f2pool, which mined the 629,999th block (the last before the halving), embedded a reference to the current financial crisis: “NYTimes 09/Apr/2020 With $2.3T Injection, Fed’s Plan Far Exceeds 2008 Rescue.”
https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-halving-arrives-mining-rewards-drop-for-third-time-in-history
Billionaire Paul Tudor Jones Buys Bitcoin as a Hedge Against Inflation - May 7, 2020
Macro investor Paul Tudor Jones is buying Bitcoin as a hedge against the inflation he sees coming from central bank money-printing, telling clients it reminds him of the role gold played in the 1970s.
Jones, the founder and chief executive officer of Tudor Investment Corp., said in a market outlook note he entitled ‘The Great Monetary Inflation’:
“The best profit-maximizing strategy is to own the fastest horse, if I am forced to forecast, my bet is it will be Bitcoin.”https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-07/paul-tudor-jones-buys-bitcoin-says-he-s-reminded-of-gold-in-70s
First Public Bitcoin Fund Listed on Toronto Stock Exchange - April 9, 2020
Canadian asset manager 3iQ has become the first firm to launch a fund tied to Bitcoin (BTC) on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), after three years of legal wrangling.
‘The Bitcoin Fund’ listed nearly 1.5 million Class A ‘QBTC.U’ shares on TSX on April 9.
This launch means that retail investors will be able to gain exposure to Bitcoin’s price using a traditional, regulated stock exchange. https://cointelegraph.com/news/first-public-bitcoin-fund-listed-on-toronto-stock-exchange https://www.coindesk.com/14m-bitcoin-fund-gets-listed-on-toronto-stock-exchangeBitcoin Cash Undergoes ‘Halving’ Event - April 8, 2020
Bitcoin Cash – the blockchain that forked off Bitcoin in 2017 – reduced its block rewards by half, causing many miners to see gross margins drop to near zero.
https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-cash-undergoes-halving-event-casting-shadow-on-miner-profitability
Binance Acquired CoinMarketCap for $400M - April 1, 2020
The largest cryptocurrency exchange by market volume has acquired popular data site CoinMarketCap (CMC) for $400M. With its extensive (although often questionable) data on prices, volumes and other metrics for 5,290 cryptocurrencies, CMC has served as a dragnet for retail investors since its launch in 2013. Amazon’s Alexa ranks CMC as the 570th most visited website globally at this time.
https://www.coindesk.com/binances-coinmarketcap-acquisition-is-a-bet-that-crypto-really-is-for-the-masses
Microsoft Patents New Cryptocurrency System Using Body Activity Data - March 26, 2020
Microsoft Technology Licensing, the licensing arm of Microsoft Corp., has been granted an international patent for a “cryptocurrency system using body activity data.”
Human body activity associated with a task provided to a user may be used in a mining process of a cryptocurrency system, - the patent reads, adding as an example:
A brain wave or body heat emitted from the user when the user performs the task provided by an information or service provider, such as viewing advertisement or using certain internet services, can be used in the mining process.https://news.bitcoin.com/microsoft-cryptocurrency-system/ https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=WO2020060606&tab=PCTBIBLIO
Bitcoin Rally on Fed’s QE ‘Bazooka’ - March 23, 2020
The U.S. Federal Reserve's open-ended easing program is a long-run positive for bitcoin's (BTC) price. Bitcoin is marching northwards as the Federal Reserve’s extraordinary economic measures boosts risk appetite in the traditional markets. A major part of the double-digit price rise came after the Fed announced its "bazooka" move to expand asset purchases by as much as needed (that is, with no upper limit) to help the economy absorb shocks arising from the coronavirus pandemic.
https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20200323b.htm
https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-marches-on-7k-as-traditional-markets-cheer-feds-qe-bazooka
Bitcoin Price Tops as FED Cuts Interest Rates to 0% and Restarts QE - March 15, 2020
The surge in price occurred shortly after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced that it would cut interest rates to 0%, launch a $700 billion quantitative easing program, and the regulator provided additional details about the type of securities it would purchase. The massive stimulus package is designed to combat the market turmoil brought about by the novel Coronavirus but shortly after the announcement, Dow futures dropped 1,000 points.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-price-tops-59k-as-fed-cuts-interest-rates-to-0-restarts-qe
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/15/federal-reserve-cuts-rates-to-zero-and-launches-massive-700-billion-quantitative-easing-program.html
Bitcoin Loses Half of Its Value in Two-Day Plunge - March 13, 2020
Bitcoin had been trading near the $10,000 level in mid-February and began its slide as the coronavirus outbreak worsened. The world’s most widely held cryptocurrency dropped below $4,000, knocking off half of its value over two days.
Even safe-haven assets, like Gold, Silver, and Bitcoin were not able to withstand the widespread coronavirus stock market crash on March 13, driving investors towards the safety of cash. People are raising cash to meet redemptions and margin calls. Market liquidity is freezing up, people are struggling to trade. The buy the dip mentality has totally flipped.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/13/bitcoin-loses-half-of-its-value-in-two-day-plunge.htmlIndian Supreme Court Lifts Ban on Bitcoin Trading - March 4, 2020
India’s supreme court overturned an April 2018 central bank order barring banks from providing services to crypto companies. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had, in its diktat, assumed that virtual currencies posed a systemic risk to the banking system.
https://qz.com/india/1813111/india-must-not-mess-up-with-bitcoin-other-cryptocurrencies-now/
FCoin Exchange Shuts Down After Becoming Insolvent - February 17, 2020
FCoin, a crypto exchange that adopted the controversial "trans-fee mining" model, has paused trading and withdrawal as it reveals a shortage of crypto assets worth up to $130 million. Zhang Jian, the former Huobi CTO who launched FCoin in May 2018, wrote a lengthy post on Monday, saying the exchange is now unable to process users' withdrawal demands as its asset reserve has fallen short of its liability – and the gap is estimated to be about 7,000 to 13,000 bitcoin (BTC).
Lightning Labs Raises $10M Series A Funding - February 5, 2020
Lightning Labs has raised $10 million in Series A financing as it gears up to launch its first paid service for merchants looking to accept bitcoin payments.
Craft Ventures led the round, with Managing Director Brian Murray joining Lightning Labs’ board of directors. Other investors include Slow Ventures, former Goldman Sachs co-head of securities David Heller, Avichal Garg of Electric Capital and Ribbit Capital.
In addition to the capital raise, Palo Alto-based Lightning Labs also launched its first financial services product, Lightning Loop, to monetize the so-called “layer-two” technology that sits on top of the bitcoin blockchain by making it easier for startups to accept the cryptocurrency.
Here you can read more about the Lightning Network: https://staging.99bitcoins.com/bitcoin/lightning-network/
https://www.coindesk.com/lightning-labs-raises-10m-series-a-to-be-the-visa-of-bitcoin
https://fortune.com/2020/02/05/bitcoin-lightning-labs/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeldelcastillo/2020/02/05/jack-dorsey-backed-lightning-labs-raises-10-million-to-build-visa-network-for-bitcoin/#5f198e595ede
Twitter Adds Bitcoin Emoji - February 2, 2020
Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted the newly added Bitcoin (BTC) emoji. Dorsey’s tweet showed that, now, whenever a Twitter user writes the Bitcoin or BTC hashtag, an image showing its symbol appears next to it.
Second City in Switzerland Accepting Tax Payments in Bitcoin - January 29, 2020
The municipality of Zermatt, Switzerland — home to the iconic Matterhorn — is now the second location in Switzerland where taxpayers are officially allowed to pay their taxes in Bitcoin (BTC). In order to unlock the new tax payment option, the authorities of the Zermatt have partnered with Switzerland’s major crypto financial services company Bitcoin Suisse. Specifically, local taxpayers will be able to pay their taxes in Bitcoin via a point-of-sale tool installed in the Zermatt town hall or an online payment portal.
The city of Zug became the first in Switzerland to accept Bitcoin payments in 2016.
Peter Schiff’s Bitcoin Wallet Vanishing Act Is the Most Boomer Thing Ever - January 19, 2020
Famous crypto skeptic and gold bug Peter Schiff claimed on Twitter that he has lost access to his Bitcoin wallet and that his password is no longer valid.
Schiff added that his BTC is now intrinsically worthless and has no market value. He also added that:
Peter Schiff cannot access his bitcoin wallet and is blaming his “losses” on the blockchain. Schiff is a boomer in every sense of the word, and his lack of blockchain understanding shows. https://www.ccn.com/peter-schiffs-bitcoin-wallet-vanishing-act-is-the-most-boomer-thing-ever/ https://cointelegraph.com/news/peter-schiff-lost-his-bitcoin-claims-owning-crypto-was-a-bad-idea“I knew owning Bitcoin was a bad idea, I just never realized it was this bad!”
CME Group Launched Bitcoin Options - January 13, 2020
Options on CME's bitcoin futures contracts launched on the CME Globex. Each contract, quoted in U.S. dollars, represents five bitcoin and is cleared centrally to avoid counterparty risk.
Bitcoin derivatives have been available on multiple cryptocurrency exchanges since at least 2014, but CME was one of the first platforms to offer investors regulated products when it first launched its cash-settled bitcoin futures in December 2017.
https://www.coindesk.com/cme-takes-its-bitcoin-options-live-competing-with-ices-bakkt
https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-options-launch-imminent-as-cme-open-interest-hits-7-month-high
Bitcoin Price Breakout Amid US-Iran Tensions - January 6, 2020
Cryptocurrency picked up a bid at lows after the U.S. launched an airstrike at Baghdad’s international airport, killing top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. Tensions escalated over the weekend, with Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei promising revenge and President Trump warning Tehran against retaliatory actions. Through all this, Bitcoin remained bid and hit a two-week high.
https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-eyes-price-breakout-amid-us-iran-tensions
Youtube Bans Crypto Videos by Mistake - December 23, 2019
A wave of YouTubers received notifications that their videos were in breach of the platform's terms of service. The move appeared to target smaller channels and publishers that focused on Bitcoin and crypto-currency content. The Google-owned video sharing platform has since apologised for the mistake.
But some crypto-bloggers have complained that their videos have not been restored after several days.
"With the massive volume of videos on our site, sometimes we make the wrong call," a YouTube spokesman said.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/billybambrough/2019/12/26/googles-youtube-goes-to-war-with-bitcoin-and-crypto-update/#3ddb2ba61b63
https://decrypt.co/15590/youtube-to-deleted-crypto-video-sites-oops-we-screwed-up
BitClub Network Ponzi Scheme Busted - December 10, 2019
Five men behind a company called BitClub Network are accused of a $722 million scam that allegedly preyed on victims who thought they were investing in a pool of bitcoin mining equipment.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/cryptocurrency-rocked-massive-bitcoin-fraud-002556949.html
https://staging.99bitcoins.com/anatomy-bitcoin-scam-bitclub-network-analyzed/
NY Regulator Licenses Fidelity for Bitcoin Trading and Custody - November 9, 2019
Fidelity has been granted a trust licence to offer trading and custody of bitcoin by the New York State Department of Financial Services, as the asset management group continues to woo cautious institutional investors into the “Wild West” of digital assets. The move allows Fidelity’s new digital assets subsidiary to launch a digital currency custody and execution platform “on which institutional investors and individuals can securely store, purchase, sell, and transfer bitcoin” to New York residents, the DFS said.
https://www.ft.com/content/eb3fce1c-0a80-11ea-b2d6-9bf4d1957a67
Research Suggest Bitcoin Price Rally in 2017 December was Manipulated - November 4, 2019
A forensic study on bitcoin’s 2017 boom has found that nearly the entire rise of the digital currency at the time is attributable to “one large player,” although the market manipulator remains unidentified. Finance professors John Griffin and Amin Shams – instructors at University of Texas and the Ohio State University, respectively – analyzed over 200 gigabytes of data for the transaction history between bitcoin and tether, another digital currency. Tether is an asset known as a “stablecoin,” which has its trading value connected to the dollar. The professors’ study found that tethers being traded for bitcoins revealed a pattern.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/04/study-single-anonymous-market-manipulator-pushed-bitcoin-to-20000.html
https://www.technologyreview.com/f/614673/one-bitcoin-whale-may-have-fueled-the-currencys-price-spike-in-2017/
Chinese Bitcoin Mining Machine Maker Canaan Files for U.S. IPO - October 29, 2019
Canaan Inc., the world’s second-largest maker of Bitcoin mining machines, filed for a U.S. initial public offering. The Hangzhou, China-based company listed its offering size as $400 million in its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-28/chinese-bitcoin-mining-machine-maker-canaan-files-for-u-s-ipo
https://news.crunchbase.com/news/bitcoin-hardware-company-canaan-creative-files-for-ipo/
Bitcoin Flirts With $10,000 After China Endorses Blockchain - October 28, 2019
Bitcoin price jumped after China’s government threw its backing behind the digital coin’s underlying ledger technology. China’s President Xi Jinping said Beijing will increase investment in blockchain technology. An official with China’s central bank also said blockchain technology can help with commercial banks’ risk control and ease borrowing difficulties for smaller businesses.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-28/bitcoin-flirts-with-10-000-after-china-endorses-blockchain
‘Satoshi’ is Added to Oxford Dictionary - October 15, 2019
Satoshi, bitcoin's smallest unit, is now added to Oxford English Dictionary. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED), published by the Oxford University Press, has officially added the word “Satoshi” to its database. The decision was made as part of a quarterly update.
https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/43326/satoshi-bitcoins-smallest-unit-is-now-added-to-oxford-english-dictionary
Unicef Accepts Crypto Donations - October 9, 2019
UNICEF will now be able to receive, hold and disburse donations of cryptocurrencies ether and bitcoin, through its newly-established UNICEF Cryptocurrency Fund. In a first for United Nations organizations, UNICEF will use cryptocurrencies to fund open source technology benefiting children and young people around the world.
https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-launches-cryptocurrency-fund
Long Awaited Bitcoin Futures Launched on Bakkt - September 22, 2019
The owner of the New York Stock Exchange launched its long-delayed market for Bitcoin futures. ICE Futures U.S., one of the world's largest commodities markets, offer Bakkt Daily and Monthly Bitcoin Futures, the first physically delivered crypto-currency futures contracts ever traded on a federally regulated exchange.
https://fortune.com/2019/09/20/bitcoin-futures-bakkt-launch/
https://www.wsj.com/articles/nyse-owner-to-launch-long-awaited-bitcoin-futures-11569153649
VanEck, SolidX to Offer Bitcoin ETF-Like Product to Institutions - September 3, 2019
While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has so far blocked a number of proposed bitcoin ETFs, two firms aim to launch a more limited option. VanEck Securities and SolidX Management – which have previously had a decision on their proposed bitcoin ETF postponed by the SEC – revealed they are taking an unusual route to bypass the regulatory hurdles. The companies will use an SEC exemption that will allow shares in their VanEck SolidX Bitcoin Trust to be offered to institutions such as hedge funds and banks, but not to retail investors. It was clarified that the product is not a true ETF, although similar.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/van-eck-solidx-to-offer-limited-version-of-bitcoin-exchange-traded-fund-11567503003
https://www.coindesk.com/van-eck-solidx-to-offer-bitcoin-etf-to-institutions-via-sec-exemption-report
Self-proclaimed Bitcoin Inventor is Ordered to Pay Billions in Bitcoin - August 28, 2019
US court orders Craig Wright to share cryptocurrency haul with the estate of American programmer David Kleiman. The IT security consultant Craig Wright, 49, was sued by the estate of David Kleiman, a programmer who died in 2013, for a share of Wright’s bitcoin haul over the pair’s involvement in the inception of the cryptocurrency from 2009 to 2013.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/aug/28/australian-who-says-he-invented-bitcoin-ordered-to-hand-over-up-to-5bn
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-27/bitcoin-investors-downplay-craig-wright-s-warning-of-liquidation
Coinbase Exchange Acquires Xapo Bitcoin Vault - August 15, 2019
Cryptocurrency firm Coinbase has acquired the custody business of Xapo, a service best known for storing Bitcoins in a vault under a Swiss mountain. The acquisition comes as part of an aggressive push by Coinbase to expand its custody services and could result in the San Francisco company storing over 5% of all Bitcoins in circulation.
https://fortune.com/2019/08/15/coinbase-xapo-bitcoin-custody/
Scammer Demands 300 Bitcoin From Binance in KYC Data Ransom - August 7, 2019
Binance has been the victim of an attempted ransom demand from a scammer. The attacker threatened to release KYC information if the company did not cough up 300 Bitcoins. In its efforts to be totally transparent, Binance has released a statement revealing that an unidentified individual has ‘threatened and harassed’ them.
https://www.binance.com/en/blog/365766157488967680/Statement-on-False-KYC-Leak
President Trump Comments on Bitcoin - July 11, 2019
In a series of tweets, Trump expanded on his thoughts on crypto, saying he is not a fan of Bitcoin.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1149472282584072192
Bitcoin Price Trades Flat on Facebook Libra Blockchain Launch - June 18, 2019
The Facebook, the social media giant unveiled its highly anticipated and until-now secretive cryptocurrency, Libra, which will run on a blockchain network secured at launch by 100 distributed computer servers, or nodes.The unveiling of Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency has failed to put a strong bid under Bitcoin.
https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-price-unfazed-by-unveiling-of-facebooks-libra-crypto
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-06-18/facebook-libra-cryptocurrency-tries-to-avoid-bitcoin-bear-traps
Bakkt names launch date for Bitcoin Futures Testing - June 13, 2019
Institutional cryptocurrency platform Bakkt will begin testing its first product, physically-delivered bitcoin (BTC) futures on July 22, the company announced in a blog post on June 13.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-crypto-currencies-futures-analysis/is-bitcoin-growing-up-regulated-futures-boom-as-investors-seek-a-safer-ride-idUSKCN1TE0IB
https://cointelegraph.com/news/bakkt-names-launch-date-for-bitcoin-futures-testing
Crypto entrepreneur to pay $4.6 million for charity lunch with bitcoin skeptic Warren Buffett - June 3, 2019
Cryptocurrency founder Justin Sun had the winning $4.57 million bid in the 20th-anniversary charity auction to have lunch with Warren Buffett.
Buffett has been a notable and outspoken bitcoin critic — calling it everything from “rat poison squared” to a “delusion” that “attracts charlatans.”
Still, Sun says even the most successful investors of all time “can sometimes miss a coming wave,” pointing to Buffett’s investments in Kraft Heinz and general aversion to tech investing.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/03/crypto-entrepreneur-to-pay-4point6-million-for-charity-lunch-with-bitcoin-skeptic-warren-buffett.html
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-03/crypto-pioneer-pays-4-57-million-for-lunch-with-warren-buffett
Another applicant files for Bitcoin copyright - May 30, 2019
Second copyright registration for the white paper has appeared on the public catalog of the United States Copyright Office, indicating that a certain Wei Liu is also claiming to have originated the work under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. It is not clear who Wei Liu is or why the registration was filed. However, it may well be that it is a counter to Wright’s move to assert ownership of fundamental bitcoin property.
https://www.coindesk.com/another-satoshi-second-copyright-filing-appears-for-bitcoin-white-paper
Australian who says he invented Bitcoin files for copyright - May 21, 2019
The man claiming he invented bitcoin, Craig Wright, has filed for copyright of the original Satoshi Nakamoto whitepaper. The Australian entrepreneur claimed to be Nakamoto, the creator of the cryptocurrency, back in 2016. The US Copyright Office catalog shows his filings for the Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System text file and Bitcoin, a computer file. Wright is working on Bitcoin SV, which emerged after the world’s first Bitcoin hash war in November 2018 to ensure the Satoshi Vision of Bitcoin lives on. Bitcoin SV (BSV), at one point surged over 200 percent on some exchanges during the day reacting to the copyright news.
https://www.cnet.com/news/australian-who-says-he-invented-bitcoin-files-for-copyright/
https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-sv-bsv-suddenly-surges-200
Binance exchange hackers steals $41M worth of Bitcoin - May 8, 2019
Hackers stole 7,000 bitcoin from major cryptocurrency exchange Binance. They used a variety of methods to carry out the “large scale security breach, ” according to the exchange. Binance said it would cover the incident “in full” and no user funds affected.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/08/binance-bitcoin-hack-over-40-million-of-cryptocurrency-stolen.html
https://techcrunch.com/2019/05/07/binance-breach/
Bitfinex and Tether faces investigation over alleged $850M shortfall - April 26, 2019
The New York attorney general accused the operator of bitcoin exchange Bitfinex and tether issuer Tether Limited of hiding an $850 million loss. The state’s top lawyer alleges Bitfinex used at least $700 million from Tether’s cash reserves to cover up the apparent loss of $850 million of client and corporate funds. Its findings were detailed in papers filed with the Manhattan Supreme Court.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/26/cryptocurrency-bitcoin-price-falls-on-ny-ag-bitfinex-probe.html
http://fortune.com/2019/04/25/bitfinex-tether-bitcoin/
Major exchanges delists Bitcoin SV - April 15, 2019
The world's largest bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange by volume, Binance, has said "de-listed" Bitcoin SV, striking it from the exchange as of April 22 as it no longer meets the high level of standard they expect. Elsewhere, the exchange ShapeShift said it will delist bitcoin SV too and another exchange, Kraken, is polling its users on whether to continue supporting the cryptocurrency.
The bitcoin cash split, known as a "hard fork", was sparked by a disagreement over the block size, which determines how many transactions can be recorded in each block added to the blockchain.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/billybambrough/2019/04/15/binance-ceo-dramatically-throws-down-the-gauntlet-to-struggling-bitcoin-rival/#38a7e5e33d6a
China wants to ban Bitcoin mining - April 8, 2019
China’s state planner wants to eliminate bitcoin mining in the country, according to a draft list of industrial activities the agency is seeking to stop in a sign of growing government pressure on the cryptocurrency sector. China is the world’s largest market for computer hardware designed to mine bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, even though such activities previously fell under a regulatory grey area. The suggestion is that the power consumed by the industry contributes to pollution and wastes resources.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-cryptocurrency/china-wants-to-ban-bitcoin-mining-idUSKCN1RL0C4
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-47867031
SEC Postpones Decision on Bitwise, VanEck Bitcoin ETF Proposals - March 29, 2019
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has delayed making a decision (again) on two bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) proposals earlier this year.
https://www.coindesk.com/sec-postpones-decision-on-bitwises-bitcoin-etf-proposal
Bitwise study finds majority of bitcoin trading volume is faked by unregulated exchanges - March 22, 2019
95% percent of spot bitcoin trading volume is faked by unregulated exchanges, according to a study from Bitwise. The firm analyzed the top 81 crypto exchanges by volume on industry site CoinMarketCap.com. They report an aggregated $6 billion in average daily bitcoin volume. The study finds that only $273 million of that is legitimate.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/22/majority-of-bitcoin-trading-is-a-hoax-new-study-finds.html
https://www.wsj.com/articles/most-bitcoin-trading-faked-by-unregulated-exchanges-study-finds-11553259600
CBOE stops listing Bitcoin futures contracts - March 15, 2019
Cboe Global Markets Inc., the first mainstream exchange to let people buy and sell Bitcoin futures, said in a web posting that it’s reviewing its approach to cryptocurrency derivatives and doesn’t currently plan to list more contracts. It offers ones that expire in April, May and June.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-15/bitcoin-futures-don-t-look-so-bright-as-cboe-reviews-contracts
http://markets.cboe.com/resources/product_update/2019/New-CFE-Products-Being-Added-in-March-2019-Update.pdf
Mt.Gox founder gets suspended sentence - March 14, 2019
Mark Karpeles, the former head of Mt. Gox — a bitcoin exchange that went bankrupt in 2014 — was found guilty of data manipulation by the Tokyo District Court and handed a prison sentence of 2.5 years that will be suspended for 4 years. He was found not guilty on a separate charge of embezzling millions of dollars through customer accounts.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/03/15/national/crime-legal/mtgox/#.XQzrcIgzaUk
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/14/tech/mark-karpeles-mt-gox/index.html
Facebook is Working on its own Cryptocurrency - March 1, 2019
Facebook's much-rumoured cryptocurrency appears to be close to fruition, with reports suggesting the technology giant is within a few months of launching its own bitcoin-style currency.
A secret team of around 50 Facebook employees are working on the cryptocurrency, according to The New York Times, who cited five anonymous sources close to the project.
The social network first began working on the cryptocurrency in May 2018, following one of the biggest management reshuffles in the company's history. Previous rumours have suggested the so-called stablecoin, which would be pegged to other currencies to avoid price volatility, would roll out to users of the popular messaging app WhatsApp.
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/facebook-cryptocurrency-whatsapp-bitcoin-telegram-signal-a8802651.html
Canadian Crypto Exchange QuadrigaCX Goes Bankrupt - February 1, 2019
Canadian crypto exchange QuadrigaCX says it cannot repay most of $190 million in client holdings after its 30-year-old founder Gerald Cotten, the only person who knew the passwords to its “cold storage,” unexpectedly died in India in December 2018.
https://gizmodo.com/crypto-exchange-says-it-cant-repay-190-million-to-clie-1832309454
CBOE Resubmits the VanEck/SolidX Bitcoin ETF Proposal for SEC Approval - January 31, 2019
CBOE resubmitted its joint proposal with VanEck and SolidX to launch the first U.S. bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
https://www.coindesk.com/cboe-re-files-vaneck-solidx-bitcoin-etf-proposal
CBOE Withdraws VanEck Bitcoin ETF Application - January 23, 2019
The on-going U.S. government shutdown has forced the withdrawal of a closely-watched proposal to list a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) on the Cboe BZX Exchange. The bitcoin ETF proposal, brought by investment firm VanEck and financial services provider SolidX, has faced an uphill battle for approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) due to concerns the bitcoin price is susceptible to market manipulation. VanEck CEO Jan van Eck explained that the companies filing the rule change proposal had been in talks with the SEC, but these talks ended when the shutdown began. To avoid a probable rejection due to the closure, the proposal was withdrawn.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/23/cboe-pulls-its-long-awaited-bitcoin-etf-application-amidst-a-government-shutdown--.html
Coinstar Machines Start Selling Bitcoin at Grocery Stores Across US - January 18, 2019
Bitcoin ATM company Coinme is partnering with coins-to-cash converter Coinstar to allow bitcoin purchases through Coinstar kiosks in a number of U.S. states
http://fortune.com/2019/01/18/buy-bitcoin-grocery-store-coinstar/
Bitwise Files for New Bitcoin ETF With SEC - January 10, 2019
Crypto startup Bitwise Asset Management has proposed a new bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) that it says would address the regulatory concerns that doomed previous attempts.
The company has filed an initial registration form proposing the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF Trust with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund would track the Bitwise Bitcoin Total Return Index, which measures the value of bitcoin plus any “meaningful hard forks.”
https://www.coindesk.com/bitwise-plans-new-bitcoin-etf-with-nyse-arca
“Proof of Keys” Movement - January 3, 2019
To celebrate Bitcoin's 10 year anniversary, long-time Bitcoin advocate and successful investor Trace Mayer proposed that the community start an annual tradition of a crypto bank run on exchanges – to be known as Proof-of-Keys. The idea was to get as many cryptocurrency users and investors to withdraw all funds from wallets that they did not hold the private key to.
The tradition, according to Trace, would serve two main purposes. Firstly, it would encourage Bitcoin users to exercise the monetary sovereignty made possible by the protocol – the hope being that those not knowing how to securely store Bitcoin would learn. Meanwhile, those that do know could teach. The second part of Proof-of-Keys supposedly serves to test the trustworthiness of the exchanges. If every single user requested every single coin on the same day, would the exchange be able to pay them all? If it turned out they could not then the platform in question would be not only guilty of deceiving its users but also guilty of artificially inflated the total supply of the currency.
https://www.newsbtc.com/2019/01/04/what-can-we-learn-from-bitcoins-birthday-bank-run/
https://www.coindesk.com/proof-of-keys-bitcoin-bank-run
Institutional Crypto Exchange Bakkt Raised $182M Funding - December 31, 2018
Bakkt, a cryptocurrency exchange and liquidity provider created by the New York Stock Exchange’s parent company ICE has raised $182.5 million from a group of high profile investors and venture capital firms.
On December 31, on New Year’s Eve, Bakkt CEO Kelly Loeffler announced that Boston Consulting Group, CMT Digital, Eagle Seven, Galaxy Digital, Goldfinch Partners, Alan Howard, Horizons Ventures, Intercontinental Exchange, Microsoft’s venture capital arm, M12, Pantera Capital, PayU, the fintech arm of Naspers, and Protocol Ventures invested in the company, sharing the firm’s vision of driving institutional access for digital assets and providing support for merchants.
https://www.ccn.com/breaking-bakkt-raises-182-million-what-it-means-for-the-state-of-bitcoin-industry/
Electrum Wallet Attack - December 29, 2018
A phishing attack on the Electrum wallet network has possibly managed to steal around 245 bitcoins, worth over $880,000 at the time of the attack. The bad actor set up the attack by creating multiple fake servers on the Electrum wallet network. As a result, when wallet users that connected to those servers attempted to broadcast a bitcoin transaction, they received an error message providing a malicious link to malware disguised as an updated wallet, the firm explained on its Github page.
https://www.coindesk.com/electrum-wallet-attack-may-have-stolen-as-much-as-245-bitcoin
Fake Bomb Threats Across US Demanding Bitcoin Ransom - December 13, 2018
A wave of bomb threats emailed to hundreds of schools, businesses and government buildings across the US triggered searches, evacuations and fear - but there were no signs of explosives, and authorities said the scare appeared to be a crude extortion attempt with hoaxers requesting cryptocurrency ransoms. The U.S. government has confirmed the existence of bomb threat emails that demand bitcoin from organizations and suggested steps to take.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2018/12/14/bomb-threat-hoaxers-hunt-bitcoin/
https://nypost.com/2018/12/13/fake-bomb-threats-nationwide-were-part-of-bitcoin-export-plot/
Bitcoin mining difficulty dropped significantly - December 3, 2018
Bitcoin’s mining difficulty saw its second largest drop in history, with a -15 percent adjustment.
https://www.ccn.com/bitcoin-mining-difficulty-just-saw-its-second-largest-drop-in-history/
Bitcoin Cash hard fork - November 15, 2018
In November 2018, a hard-fork chain split of Bitcoin Cash occurred between two rival factions called Bitcoin ABC and Bitcoin SV. This caused a decline in prices across the cryptocurrencies due to uncertainty.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/cbovaird/2018/11/14/what-triggered-bitcoins-sharp-price-plunge/#13c929a61d66
Bitcoin turns 10 years old - October 31, 2018
On October 31 2008, Bitcoin's mysterious founder Satoshi Nakamoto published a nine-page long academic style paper called "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System", which led to the creation of Bitcoin, the first ever cryptocurrency.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/31/bitcoin-turns-10-years-old.html
https://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin-price-10-year-anniversary-of-cryptocurrency-2018-10
Fidelity launches institutional platform for cryptocurrencies - October 15, 2018
Fidelity Investments is spinning off a stand-alone company dedicated to bringing cryptocurrencies to institutional investors. Called Fidelity Digital Assets, the limited liability corporation based in Boston will provide enterprise-grade custody solutions, a cryptocurrency trading execution platform and institutional advising services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, designed to align with blockchain's always-on trading cycle.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeldelcastillo/2018/10/15/fidelity-launches-institutional-platform-for-bitcoin-and-ethereum/#30513fee93c4
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/15/fidelity-launches-trade-execution-and-custody-for-cryptocurrencies.html
Japanese Zaif exchange hacked loosing about $60M in crypto - September 18, 2018
A Japan-based cryptocurrency exchange called Zaif has been hacked, losing a 6.7 billion yen (about $60 million worth of cryptocurrency), including 5,966 bitcoins. Hackers with unauthorized access to the exchange’s hot wallets had stolen roughly $60 million in Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and MonaCoin.
https://www.coindesk.com/crypto-exchange-zaif-hacked-in-60-million-6000-bitcoin-theft
Goldman Sachs drops crypto trading plans - September 5, 2018
Goldman Sachs is abandoning plans to open a trading desk for cryptocurrencies. Goldman still sees the regulatory environment as ambiguous, according to Business Insider, which cited people familiar with the matter. The Wall Street giant has been considering the launch of a new trading operation focused on bitcoin and other digital currencies for the past year.
https://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-retreats-from-launching-crypto-trading-desk-2018-9?r=UK&IR=T
SEC delays decision on Bitcoin ETFs - August 7, 2018
The price of bitcoin fell sharply after the Securities and Exchange Commission postponed its decision on whether it would approve a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) proposed by VanEck and SolidX.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/08/bitcoin-price-falls-after-sec-postpones-key-etf-decision.html
https://www.forbes.com/sites/cbovaird/2018/08/07/bitcoin-prices-drop-after-sec-postpones-etf-decision/#7d56c172e677
NYSE’s owner (ICE) announced the launch of Bakkt, a federal regulated market for Bitcoin - August 3, 2018
NYSE's Intercontinental Exchange together with Starbucks, Microsoft and BCG, among others, announced they are working to launch a new company called Bakkt. Along with enabling consumers to use bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies at Starbucks, Bakkt will leverage Microsoft's cloud to create an open and regulated, digital asset ecosystem, ICE said.
http://fortune.com/longform/nyse-owner-bitcoin-exchange-startup/
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/04/brian-kelly-bitcoin-could-come-to-your-401k-with-starbucks-bakkt.html
Winklevoss twins Bitcoin ETF is rejected by the SEC - July 26, 2018
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rejected a request to list an exchange-traded fund run by the Winklevoss twins for the second time. The U.S. financial watchdog has yet to approve a cryptocurrency-based ETF and in the release highlights issues with security, market manipulation and investor protection issues.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-27/bitcoin-drops-as-u-s-regulators-reject-winklevoss-etf-plan
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/26/winklevoss-twins-bitcoin-etf-rejected-by-sec.html
BlackRock looks into crypto and blockchain - July 16, 2018
Bitcoin jumped as the news spread that BlackRock sets up a working group to look into cryptocurrencies and blockchain. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink later confirmed the report in an interview with Reuters.
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/16/bitcoin-jumps-after-report-says-blackrock-exploring-cryptocurrencies.html
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-blackrock-cryptocurrency/blackrock-is-evaluating-cryptocurrencies-ceo-says-idUSKBN1K61MC
Facebook is lifting ban on crypto ads - June 26, 2018
Facebook has reversed its controversial ban on cryptocurrency adverts put in place in January amid fears that the ads were used for fraud.
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/facebook-cryptocurrency-ban-coinbase-bitcoin-exchange-a8418841.html
South Korean cryptocurrency exchange, Bithumb was hacked - June 20, 2018
Bitcoin price tumbles after the Bithumb exchange announced on Wednesday, 20 June, that hackers had seized $31 million worth of cryptocurrency from its online vaults, marking the second time in less than a year that it has been breached.
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/bitcoin-price-hack-bithumb-cryptocurrency-exchange-theft-coinbase-a8408291.html
U.S. regulator demands trading data from Bitcoin exchanges in manipulation probe - June 11, 2018
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has sent subpoenas to four crypto-exchanges—Bitstamp, Kraken, ItBit, and Coinbase—demanding answers on the subject of market price distortion.
Sources:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-regulators-demand-trading-data-from-bitcoin-exchanges-in-manipulation-probe-1528492835?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/bitcoin-price-crypto-crash-blamed-095821221.html
South Korean crypto exchange, CoinRail has been hacked - June 10, 2018
South Korean crypto exchange Coinrail loses over $40M in tokens following a hack.
Sources:
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/10/bitcoin-tumbles-10-percent-after-news-of-south-korea-crypto-exchange-hack.html
U.S.Justice Department launches criminal probe into Bitcoin price manipulation - May 24, 2018
The Justice Department has opened a criminal probe into whether traders are manipulating the price of Bitcoin and other digital currencies. The investigation is focused on illegal practices that can influence prices -- such as spoofing, or flooding the market with fake orders to trick other traders into buying or selling.
Sources:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-24/bitcoin-manipulation-is-said-to-be-focus-of-u-s-criminal-probe
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/24/us-opens-criminal-probe-into-bitcoin-price-manipulation-bloomberg.html
Prosecutors raid largest South Korean exchange - May 11, 2018
Prosecutors raided UpBit, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea on suspicion of fraud.
Sources:
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/11/bitcoin-drops-to-3-week-low-other-cryptocurrencies-plunge-after-prosecutors-raid-largest-korean-exchange.html
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-crypto-currencies-southkorea/prosecutors-raid-south-koreas-biggest-cryptocurrency-exchange-yonhap-idUSKBN1IC150
Goldman Sachs announces to open a Bitcoin trading operation - May 2, 2018
One of the largest investment bank announced, Goldman is about to begin using its own money to trade with clients in a variety of contracts linked to the price of Bitcoin.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/02/technology/bitcoin-goldman-sachs.html
Indian Exchange Coinsecure Hit By $3.5 Million Bitcoin Theft - April 13, 2018
One of India’s biggest cryptocurrency trading platforms has lost about 438 Bitcoins worth some 190 million rupees ($3 million), allegedly due to a rogue employee. Coinsecure pledges to compensate customers from personal funds.
Sources:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-13/bitcoin-heist-of-3-million-reported-by-india-s-coinsecure-jfxqtgou
Twitter announces ban on cryptocurrency ads - March 26, 2018
Twitter announced it would ban advertising for cryptocurrencies, following Google and Facebook's crackdown that aims to protect investors from fraud.
Sources:
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/26/bitcoin-falls-7-percent-to-below-8000-after-twitter-bans-cryptocurrency-ads.html
Google bans crypto advertisements - March 14, 2018
Google said it is banning online advertisements promoting cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings from June. Google’s updated policy came with the release of its annual "bad ads" report, a review of the number of malicious, deceptive and controversial ads Google scrubs from its massive search, display and video network.
Sources:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-14/google-to-ban-cryptocurrency-initial-coin-offering-ads-in-june
US Regulator SEC says crypto exchanges must register with agency - March 7, 2018
US Securities and Exchange Commission reiterated that many online trading platforms for digital assets should register with the agency as exchanges. SEC statement boosted concern that tightening regulation may limit trading.
Sources:
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/07/bitcoin-just-tanked-below-10000-after-sec-says-crypto-exchanges-must-register-with-agency.html
Facebook bans all ads promoting cryptocurrency - January 30, 2018
Facebook has banned people entirely from advertising bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Facebook said it had found a huge number of people using the site to advertise misleading and dangerous offers. It said it would now ban ads that are related to cryptocurrency, initial coin offerings, or binary options. Facebook noted that all of those things can be used legitimately – but that a worryingly large amount of ads marketing them were actually just scams.
Sources:
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/bitcoin-price-latest-value-facebook-ban-ads-cryptocurrency-ico-scam-fraud-warning-a8186646.html
https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/01/30/facebook-just-banned-crypto-ads.html
Japanese CoinCheck Exchange halts withdrawals after being hacked - January 26, 2018
One of Japan’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, CoinCheck has halted all withdrawals amidst rumors of a large-scale hack. Ripple worth $123 million was withdrawn from its wallet on Friday January 26 along with a single withdrawal of 500 million NEM.
Sources:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-26/cryptocurrencies-drop-after-japanese-exchange-halts-withdrawals
https://news.bitcoin.com/coincheck-halts-operations-amidst-hacking-rumors-after-723-million-withdrawn/
80% of the total Bitcoin supply has been mined - January 13, 2018
Out of the total 21mln, on January 13, 2018, 16,800,000 BTC have been mined and there’s only 20 percent left for miners to acquire.
Sources:
https://www.express.co.uk/finance/city/904946/bitcoin-price-mined-cryptocurrency-BTC-what-happen-next-token-limit
CoinMarketCap drops South Korea prices from cryptocurrency rates and regulator inspects cryptocurrency bank accounts. - January 8, 2018
CoinMarketCap removed prices from South Korean exchanges from its calculations of cryptocurrency rates without any warning, resulting in a steep drop in all prices. Additionally, Korea’s financial authorities on Jan. 8 launched an investigation into cryptocurrency-related services provided by local banks amid criticism that recent government measures are having little impact on cooling the markets.
Sources:
https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-global-bitcoin/bitcoin-slides-as-website-drops-south-korea-prices-from-virtual-currency-rates-idUSKBN1EX1DB
http://www.theinvestor.co.kr/view.php?ud=20180108000853
Report says early Facebook investor Peter Thiel is buying massive amounts - January 2, 2018
Peter Thiel's Founders Fund has bought millions of dollars in bitcoin, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources familiar with the situation. Those holdings are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, the newspaper says. It wasn't clear whether Founders had sold any of its holdings, the report says.
Sources:
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/02/bitcoin-rises-after-report-says-early-facebook-investor-peter-thiel-is-buying-massive-amounts.html
https://www.wsj.com/articles/peter-thiels-founders-fund-makes-big-bet-on-bitcoin-1514917433
South Korea threatens to shut down cryptocurrency exchanges - December 28, 2017
Bitcoin price tumbled after South Korea announced more measures to regulate bitcoin trading, including a potential shutdown of exchanges, amid volatile moves in the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency market. “Cryptocurrency speculation has been irrationally overheated in Korea,” the government said in a statement. “We cannot leave the abnormal situation of speculation any longer.”
Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/dec/28/bitcoin-falls-south-korea-crackdown-trading
http://fortune.com/2017/12/28/bitcoin-fall-south-korea-exchange-closure/
https://www.ft.com/content/75e13894-eba7-11e7-bd17-521324c81e23
Bitcoin price hit all time high just below $20,000 - December 18, 2017
Bitcoin hits a new record high, but stops short of $20,000
Sources:
http://fortune.com/2017/12/17/bitcoin-record-high-short-of-20000/
CBOE Bitcoin Futures are launched - December 11, 2017
Futures on the world’s most popular cryptocurrency surged as much as 26 percent from the opening price in their debut session on Cboe Global Markets Inc.’s exchange, triggering two temporary trading halts designed to calm the market.
Sources:
http://time.com/5058192/bitcoin-futures/
https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2017/dec/11/bitcoin-price-futures-trading-begins-cryptocurrency-business-live
Bitcoin price breaks $10,000 for the first time - November 28, 2017
Bitcoin has finally surmounted the greatest psychological barrier of all, passing $10,000.
Sources:
https://www.ft.com/content/cc422666-d4b0-11e7-8c9a-d9c0a5c8d5c9
SegWit2X Cancelled - November 8, 2017
Bitcoin was scheduled to upgrade around Nov. 16 following a proposal called SegWit2x, which would have split the digital currency in two. However, more and more major bitcoin developers dropped their support for the upgrade in the last few months. Developers behind SegWit2x announced they are calling off plans for the upgrade until there is more agreement in the bitcoin community.
Sources:
https://staging.99bitcoins.com/who-supports-segwit2x-the-new-york-agreement-and-the-upcoming-bitcoin-fork-explained/
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/08/bitcoin-surges-11-percent-to-record-above-7800-after-developers-call-off-plans-to-split-digital-currency.html
CME announces to launch Bitcoin futures - October 31, 2017
CME Group announced that it plans to introduce trading in bitcoin futures by the end of the year, only a month after dismissing such a plan. Chief Executive Officer Terrence Duffy cited increased client demand as a key reason for the change of mind. As a result, the Bitcoin price hit a high of $6,600.84 just hours after breaking through the $6,400 barrier, and a minute after moving past the $6,500 mark, according to data from CoinDesk. Its market capitalization, or the total value of bitcoin in circulation, hit $110 billion.
Sources:
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/01/bitcoin-price-hits-6500-to-new-record-high-after-cme-futures-plan.html
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-01/bitcoin-rises-to-fresh-record-after-cme-about-turn-on-futures
Bitcoin Hardfork: Bitcoin Gold goes live - October 25, 2017
According to the Bitcoin Gold pitch, returning to home users will bring forth greater decentralization. Since Bitcoin Gold was issued, its price has plunged over 66 percent within the first couple of hours. The sell-off was due to investors dumping the cryptocurrency, perhaps signaling a lack of faith in the newly-created coin.
Sources:
https://staging.99bitcoins.com/the-bitcoin-gold-hard-fork-explained-coming-october-25th/
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/25/bitcoin-gold-price-plunges-what-is-hard-fork.html
Bitcoin price breaks $5,000 for the first time - October 13, 2017
The price of bitcoin has smashed through $5,000 to an all-time high. The cryptocurrency rose by more than 8% to $5,243 having started the year at $966.
Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/oct/12/bitcoin-price-5000-cryptocurrency-gold-bubble
China Is Shutting Down All Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Exchanges - September 15, 2017
Chinese authorities have ordered Beijing-based cryptocurrency exchanges to cease trading and immediately notify users of their closure, signaling a widening crackdown by authorities on the industry to contain financial risks. Exchanges were also told to stop allowing new user registrations, according to a government notice signed by the Beijing city group in charge of overseeing internet finance risks that were circulated online and verified by a government source to Reuters.
Sources:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-15/china-is-said-to-call-for-bitcoin-exchange-halt-by-month-end-j7lblmdg
http://fortune.com/2017/09/15/china-shutting-down-beijing-bitcoin-cryptocurrency-exchanges/
Jamie Dimon, head of JP Morgan calls Bitcoin as fraud - September 12, 2017
JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said he would fire any employee trading bitcoin for being “stupid.” The cryptocurrency “won’t end well,” he told an investor conference in New York, predicting it will eventually blow up. “It’s a fraud” and “worse than tulip bulbs.”
Sources:
https://staging.99bitcoins.com/jpmorgan-ceo-jamie-dimon-says-bitcoin-is-a-fraud/
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-12/jpmorgan-s-ceo-says-he-d-fire-traders-who-bet-on-fraud-bitcoin
China bans companies from raising money through ICOs - September 3, 2017
Regulators started to scrutinize China's initial coin offerings as announced by a local outlet. Caixin reported that a notice, issued by a working committee that oversees risk in the country's internet finance sector, said new projects raising cash or other virtual currencies through cryptocurrencies are banned. It added that authorities are cracking down on related fraudulent practices. The document defined initial coin offerings (ICOs) as an unauthorized fundraising tool that may involve financial scams, the Caixin report noted. The committee provided a list of 60 major ICO platforms for local financial regulatory bodies to inspect.
Sources:
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/04/chinese-icos-china-bans-fundraising-through-initial-coin-offerings-report-says.html
Bitcoin “splits” into Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) - August 1, 2017
After years of debating about how Bitcoin should scale the controversy turned into action. The Bitcoin code split in two different directions. One direction supporting the optimization of Bitcoin blocks through Segwit, while the other direction supports bigger blocks of up to 8mb.
The bigger block group called their currency Bitcoin Cash and effectively doubled the holdings of anyone who owned Bitcoin before August 1st. For example, if you have 10 Bitcoins before August 1st, you would now have 10 Bitcoins and 10 Bitcoin Cash.
Sources:
https://staging.99bitcoins.com/segwit2x-uasf-and-the-upcoming-fork-guidelines-heres-what-you-need-to-know/
https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-forking-bitcoin-cash-hasnt-created-yet/
Japan Declares Bitcoin as Legel Tender - April 1, 2017
Japan recognizes bitcoin as a legal method of payment.
The country's legislature passed a law, following months of debate, that brought bitcoin exchanges under anti-money laundering/know-your-customer rules, while also categorizing bitcoin as a kind of prepaid payment instrument.
Sources:
https://www.coindesk.com/japan-bitcoin-law-effect-tomorrow/
SEC denies second Bitcoin ETF application - March 28, 2017
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday denied for the second time in a month a request to bring to market a first-of-its-kind product tracking bitcoin, the digital currency.
The SEC announced in a filing its decision denying Intercontinental Exchange Inc's NYSE Arca exchange the ability to list and trade the SolidX Bitcoin Trust, an exchange-traded product (ETP) that would trade like a stock and track the digital asset's price.
Sources:
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/29/us-sec-denies-a-second-application-to-list-bitcoin-product.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-bitcoin-etp-idUSKBN16Z2HH
SEC denies Winkelvos ETF - March 10, 2017
the US government denied the application of Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss — the brothers who once claimed to be co-inventors of Facebook — to operate an exchange-traded fund (ETF) to make it easier for investors to buy Bitcoin.
Sources:
https://nypost.com/2017/03/10/winklevoss-bitcoin-trust-tanks-after-sec-denies-application/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/get-there/wp/2017/03/10/sec-rejects-bitcoin-etf-application-from-winklevoss-twins/
Bitcoin price breaks $1000 for the first time in 3 years - January 3, 2017
After rallying for most of the second half of 2016 Bitcoin breaches the $1000 mark for the first time in 3 years. Mass media coverage brings in an influx of new users that supposedly will raise the price even higher.
Source:
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/02/bitcoin-breaks-1000-level-highest-in-more-than-3-years.html
Donald Trump Elected as President, Market Plummet - November 9, 2016
In a shocking turn of events Donald Trump defeats Hillary Clinton and become the 45th president of the United States. The US market drops by over 1% and the Mexican Peso has plumbed record lows, and is now down 10% today at 20.22 peso to the dollar.
Japan's Nikkei 225 plunged 5.4% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 2.2%. The Shanghai Composite index lost 0.6%.. Dow futures were down 2.1%, S&P 500 futures were 2.3% lower and Nasdaq futures lost 2.7% at around 6.30 a.m. ET.
European markets opened sharply lower before paring its losses. Germany’s DAX index was off around 1% after opening down nearly 3%. France's CAC 40 was in positive territory by 0.4% after an earlier decline of 1.5% and Britain's FTSE 100 dropped 0.3%.
Investors rushed into perceived havens, such as gold, which is up $26.90 an ounce, or 2.1%, to $1,301.40.
Bitcoin has seen a sharp increase in value during this night going up 5% in just 24 hours, however later throughout the day the price stabilized on a total increase of 2.5%.
Sources:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-11-08/markets-crash-peso-plunges-record-low-trump-looks-likely-winner
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/markets/2016/11/09/global-markets-tailspin-trump-victory-declared/93531114/
Bitfinex Hacked - August 2, 2016
Bitfinex, the largest Bitcoin exchange by volume, announced that 119,756 bitcoins of customer funds had been stolen via a security breach, a value roughly equivalent to $72 million USD. Bitfinex was holding the customer funds in multi-signature addresses in conjunction with its security partner BitGo. It is presumed that the attacker obtained access to the private keys for nearly all Bitfinex customer accounts, as well as access to the BitGo API for the Bitfinex account.
It remains unclear if the customer funds were insured by BitGo and if customers will be fully reimbursed.
The price of Bitcoin plunged nearly 20% to $480 USD that day before beginning a gradual recovery.
Others in the Bitcoin community suggested that prior knowledge of the upcoming hack was used by unknown entities for insider trading as the price had begun to drop significantly before Bitfinex's announcement.
Sources:
http://www.coindesk.com/bitfinex-bitcoin-hack-know-dont-know/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/4w6tbp/major_shorting_on_okcoin_hours_before_hack_11/
Second Halving Day - July 9, 2016
The block reward was decreased for the second time in Bitcoin's history, resulting in a new reward of 12.5 bitcoins per mined block. The automatic 50% drop continued Bitcoin's original design to gradually decrease the number of newly created bitcoins until the block reward ends completely, which is estimated to occur in the year 2140.
The block reward halving occurs every 210,000 blocks and the next "Halving Day" is expected to occur in July 2020.
Sources:
http://blockr.io/block/info/420000
Craig Wright Claims to be Bitcoin’s Creator - May 2, 2016
Following a five month absence from the public eye, Craig Wright publicly announced he was Satoshi Nakamoto by means of a blog post. The blog post featured a disjointed demonstration of a private key signing, which seemed to be an attempt to verify Wright was in possession of Nakamoto's private Bitcoin keys. This verification was later debunked by the Bitcoin community.
Wright's claim was backed up by Bitcoin developer Gavin Andresen in his own blog post earlier the same day. Andresen stated that he met with Wright in-person in London, and privately witnessed Wright sign an arbitrary message using one of Nakamoto's private Bitcoin keys.
Andresen later stated that he may have been tricked by Wright.
Sources:
http://www.drcraigwright.net/jean-paul-sartre-signing-significance/
http://gizmodo.com/craig-wright-reveals-himself-as-bitcoin-creator-satoshi-1774194884
https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/technical-proof-craig-wright-not-satoshi-nakamoto/
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11609707
http://gavinandresen.ninja/satoshi
https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/gavin-andersen-craig-wright-blog-mistake/
Steam Accepts Bitcoin - April 27, 2016
The popular gaming platform Steam began accepting Bitcoin as payment for video games and other online media. Valve, the company that owns Steam, enlisted Bitpay as the payment processor to facilitate Bitcoin payments and help target international customers where credit card payments weren't as ubiquitous.
Sources:
http://www.coindesk.com/video-game-platform-steam-now-accepting-bitcoin/
https://blog.bitpay.com/load-your-steam-wallet-using-bitcoin/
OpenBazaar Launched - April 4, 2016
The initial production version of the first decentralized marketplace software, OpenBazaar, was released to the general public. The goal of the project was to facilitate peer-to-peer trade without a middleman, fees, or restrictions on trade. The software allows users to create virtual stores where buyers can purchase goods using Bitcoin.
The OpenBazaar project would later announce it received $1 million in funding from venture capital firms Union Square Ventures, Andreessen-Horowitz, and angel investor William Mougayar .
Sources:
https://blog.openbazaar.org/openbazaar-is-open-for-business/
http://www.businessinsider.com/openbazaar-gets-1-million-seed-round-from-andreessen-horowitz-union-square-ventures-2015-6
Bitcoin Roundtable Consensus - February 21, 2016
Influential members of the Bitcoin community met in Hong Kong to discuss a development plan and timeline for scaling Bitcoin. The closed-door meeting included over 30 miners, service providers, and Bitcoin Core developers and was meant to address solutions to the block size debate.
The meeting concluded with a public statement proposing the group's support for the new Segregated Witness functionality, and making a hard fork in the Bitcoin protocol available that would increase the block size limit between 2MB and 4MB by July 2016.
Others in the Bitcoin community denounced the meeting as being inconsequential as the parties involved represented a small handful of Bitcoin companies and special interest groups.
Sources:
https://medium.com/@bitcoinroundtable/bitcoin-roundtable-consensus-266d475a61ff
http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-miners-back-proposed-timeline-for-2017-network-hard-fork/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/46po4l/we_have_consensus_in_april_we_get_sw_3_months/
Mike Hearn Quits Bitcoin (a.k.a The Hearnia) - January 14, 2016
In a public blog post, Mike Hearn declared that Bitcoin had failed and that he will "no longer be taking part in Bitcoin development". Hearn was an ex-Google developer who had been heavily involved in the Bitcoin community and related projects since the early days of the cryptocurrency. His most popular project was bitcoinj, a Java implementation of the Bitcoin protocol.
Hearn's post blamed Bitcoin's alleged failure on a number of reasons: censorship in the Bitcoin community, the centralization of mining to a handful of Chinese miners, and the unwillingness of Bitcoin Core developers to increase the limit on Bitcoin's block size. Within 24 hours of the post being published, Bitcoin's price dropped over $50 USD.
Others in the Bitcoin community accused Hearn of purposely attacking Bitcoin in order to promote his new employer, R3 CEV, a startup focused on using blockchain technology to improve the operations of the global banking industry.
Sources:
https://medium.com/@octskyward/the-resolution-of-the-bitcoin-experiment-dabb30201f7
https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/mike-hearn-says-bitcoin-has-failed-and-sees-a-price-plunge-in-the-future/
Gwern and WIRED Claim Craig Wright is Probably Satoshi Nakamoto - December 8, 2015
Security researcher and writer, Gwern Branwen, published an article in WIRED magazine claiming that an Australian man named Dr. Craig S. Wright was either Satoshi Nakamoto or a "brilliant hoaxer". Gwern cited a number of Wright's deleted blog posts, leaked emails, and transcripts that seemed to suggest Wright is Bitcoin's creator. In one leaked transcript Wright himself claims "I did my best to try and hide the fact that I’ve been running bitcoin since 2009". Another document detailed that Wright had access to a Bitcoin trust worth 1.1 million bitcoins.
However, none of the leaked documents Gwern claimed to possess were published.
Wright did not provide WIRED with any confirmation that he was indeed Satoshi Nakamoto. Within hours of the article being published, Wright's existing online presence was mostly removed from the web.
Sources:
https://www.wired.com/2015/12/bitcoins-creator-satoshi-nakamoto-is-probably-this-unknown-australian-genius/
http://www.coindesk.com/craig-wright/
Bitcoin Sign Accepted into Unicode - November 3, 2015
The Unicode committee accepted the Bitcoin currency symbol (uppercase B with 2 vertical bars going through it, but only visible at the top and bottom) to be in a future version of the Unicode standard. The glyph will be given the slot "U+20BF BITCOIN SIGN" and eventually will render with standard system fonts.
Sources:
http://www.unicode.org/L2/L2015/15229-bitcoin-sign.pdf
Bitcoin Featured on Front Page of The Economist - October 31, 2015
The Economist, a globally popular British publication focused on economic liberalism, made it's article "The Trust Machine" the featured cover story of it's weekly print edition. The article focused mainly on the utility of blockchain technology, promoting the idea that banks and government institutions may implement their own blockchains to create "cheap, tamper-proof public databases".
Sources:
http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21677198-technology-behind-bitcoin-could-transform-how-economy-works-trust-machine
EU Declares No VAT on Bitcoin Trades - October 22, 2015
The European Court of Justice ruled that the exchange of Bitcoin and "virtual currencies" is not subject to value-added-tax (VAT) in the European Union. The ruling acts to classify Bitcoin and related alt-coins as currency, instead of goods or property.
This ruling is in contrast to the United States' classification of Bitcoin as both a currency (according to FINCEN) and commodity (according to CFTC/IRS).
Sources:
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/10/22/bitcoin-now-tax-free-in-europe-after-court-ruling.html
http://www.newsbtc.com/2015/10/25/no-vat-bitcoin-exchanges-exempted-from-value-added-tax-in-eu/
Gemini Exchange Launched - October 8, 2015
Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss released their own US based Bitcoin exchange dubbed "Gemini". Upon launch, the exchange was licensed to operate in 26 states and was able to "service both individual and institutional customers" due to its LLTC corporate structure. Gemini was also able to offer FDIC insurance on customer deposits thanks to a partnership with a New York based bank.
The exchange aims to be fully compliant with US law with a policy to first "ask for permission, not forgiveness".
Sources:
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/winklevoss-twins-announce-the-launch-of-gemini-bitcoin-exchange-1444058291
Bitcoin declared as a commodity by the US regulator - September 18, 2015
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), announced it had filed and settled charges against a Bitcoin exchange for facilitating the trading of option contracts on its platform. They state: "In this order, the CFTC for the first time finds that Bitcoin and other virtual currencies are properly defined as commodities,".
Sources:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-17/bitcoin-is-officially-a-commodity-according-to-u-s-regulator
Bitcoin XT Fork Released - August 15, 2015
Bitcoin Core developers Mike Hearn and Gavin Andresen released a separate version of the Bitcoin client software, called Bitcoin XT. The release illustrates an ongoing controversy in the Bitcoin development community: what limit should be placed on the size of Bitcoin's blocks? Bitcoin XT implements BIP 101, which proposes "replacing the fixed one megabyte maximum block size with a maximum size that grows over time at a predictable rate".
The release of Bitcoin XT culminated fears that the Bitcoin community may not be able to reach a consensus on the issue, and the blockchain may hard fork, resulting in two separate versions of Bitcoin's global ledger.
Sources:
https://medium.com/faith-and-future/why-is-bitcoin-forking-d647312d22c1
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Block_size_limit_controversy
http://www.coindesk.com/what-is-the-bitcoin-block-size-debate-and-why-does-it-matter/
https://bitcoinxt.software/
https://github.com/gavinandresen/bips/blob/fd99a8ce04dbad96fb275e0300a7ee669e70f418/bip-0101.mediawiki
Mark Karpeles Arrested - August 1, 2015
Mark Karpeles, the CEO of the failed Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, was arrested in Japan on charges of fraud and embezzlement in relation to collapse of the exchange. Karpeles faces allegations of illegally manipulating trade volume and the personal use of client deposits, of which may have led to the exchange's insolvency. Mt. Gox is thought to have ultimately lost 744,400 Bitcoins of customer deposits.
Sources:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33745611
http://www.coindesk.com/mt-gox-ceo-mark-karpeles-arrested-in-japan/
2 Federal Agents Plead Guilty to Silk Road Theft - July 1, 2015
Former Federal agents Carl Force IV (DEA) and Shaun Bridges (Secret Service) pleaded guilty to stealing Bitcoins for their personal gain during their active investigation of the Silk Road marketplace.
Force was charged with "extorting Ulbricht, as well as wire fraud, theft of government property, money laundering, and conflict of interest" in his role in siphoning off $50,000 worth of Bitcoin from the Silk Road into his own personal accounts. Bridges is charged with money laundering and obstruction of justice for stealing $820,000 worth of Bitcoin in a similar manner.
Force agreed to pay $500,000 in restitution and was later sentenced to 6 years in prison in October 2015. Bridges is awaiting sentencing in December 2015.
Sources:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/katevinton/2015/07/01/corrupt-dea-agent-pleads-guilty-to-extorting-bitcoin-from-silk-road-creator-ross-ulbricht/
http://insidebitcoins.com/news/former-us-federal-agent-pleads-guilty-to-800000-bitcoin-theft/34678
http://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahjeong/2015/03/31/force-and-bridges/
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/silk-road-federal-agent-gets-6-years-stealing-50000-worth-bitcoins-1524901
New York State Releases the BitLicense - June 3, 2015
Superintendent of New York State Department of Financial Services, Benjamin Lawsky, released a set of customized rules meant to regulate Bitcoin and digital currency businesses that serve customers located in New York state. These regulations are the first ever directly targeted at digital currency businesses.
According to the regulations, digital currency companies that serve NY customers must apply for a "BitLicense" within 45 days or be considered in "breach of the law". A BitLicense application costs $5,000 and the regulations include a number business requirements, such as fingerprinting employees for the FBI, obtaining written approval of all new business activities, and retained "earnings and profits of the company can only be invested in US dollars".
In response, New York based customers were banned and expunged by a number of Bitcoin companies, including Bitfinex, Kraken, Bitquick.co, and ShapeShift.
Sources:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/2aycxs/hi_this_is_ben_lawsky_at_nydfs_here_are_the
http://www.dfs.ny.gov/about/speeches/sp1506031.htm
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/38dr9b/ny_financial_regulator_lawsky_releases_final/
http://www.dfs.ny.gov/legal/regulations/adoptions/dfsp200t.pdf
http://www.coindesk.com/ny-bitcoin-business-45-days-bitlicense/
http://bravenewcoin.com/news/mass-exodus-of-bitcoin-exchanges-from-new-york-state-triggered-by-bitlicense-deadline/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/3gcedf/bitlicense_the_rundown/
Ross Ulbricht Sentenced to Life in Prison - May 19, 2015
After a month-long jury trial that ended in Ulbricht's conviction, Judge Katherine Forrest sentenced Ulbricht to life in prison without parole. Ulbricht had been found guilty on 7 charges of money laundering, computer hacking, and conspiracy to traffic narcotics in February due to his role as the operator of the Silk Road marketplace (a.k.a "Dread Pirate Roberts"). In a letter to Judge Katherine Forrest prior to his sentencing, Ulbricht admitted to running the Silk Road and made a plea for leniency. The judge's sentencing statement hinted that the harshness of the sentence was to make an example of Ulbricht: members of the public considering following in his footsteps should know "that if you break the law this way, there will be very serious consequences."
Ross Ulbricht would later appeal the ruling on June 5, 2015.
Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/30/nyregion/ross-ulbricht-creator-of-silk-road-website-is-sentenced-to-life-in-prison.html
http://www.wired.com/2015/02/silk-road-ross-ulbricht-verdict/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Ulbricht
https://reason.com/blog/2015/05/31/silk-road-trial-read-ross-ulbrichts-haun
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/ross-ulbricht-just-appealed-his-life-sentence
Coinbase Launches US Licensed Exchange - January 26, 2015
The VC backed startup Coinbase Inc., a popular Bitcoin outlet and payment processor, announced the release of its own Bitcoin trading platform. The company founders stated they had worked for months to obtain various licenses from state financial regulators, allowing them to legally accept customers from 25 different US states.
The new platform will operate like a traditional exchange: customers can deposit funds, place asks and bids on an order book, and will be charged a small percentage fee on executed trades. The exchange platform is to remain separate from their Bitcoin outlet operation, which in contrast, allows customers to buy and sell Bitcoins directly from Coinbase.
Sources:
https://blog.coinbase.com/2015/01/26/coinbase-launches-first-regulated-bitcoin-exchange/
http://www.coindesk.com/coinbase-secures-approval-launch-regulated-us-bitcoin-exchange/
Bitstamp Hacked - January 4, 2015
Unknown hackers were able to steal 18,866 bitcoins from Bitstamp's operational hot wallet, worth roughly $5.2 million dollars. The attackers used social engineering against Bitstamp system administrator Luka Kodric to gain access to 2 of Bitstamp's servers and subsequently the hot wallet's private keys. The wallet was completely drained of all bitcoins shortly thereafter.
Upon discovery of the breach, Bitstamp immediately shutdown the exchange's operations for 8 days as it audited its systems and rebuilt its trading platform.
The theft represented "a small fraction of Bitstamp's total bitcoin reserves" as the majority of the company's Bitcoin funds remained untouched in offline "cold" storage. No customer account balances were affected. However, according to a leaked internal Bitstamp report on the incident, the damage to the company's reputation and customer confidence far exceeded its monetary Bitcoin loss.
Sources:
http://www.coindesk.com/bitstamp-claims-roughly-19000-btc-lost-hot-wallet-hack/
http://www.coindesk.com/unconfirmed-report-5-million-bitstamp-bitcoin-exchange/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/3bpdb4/bitstamp_incident_report_22015/
Charlie Shrem Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison - December 19, 2014
Labeled Bitcoin's "First Felon", Charlie Shrem, the CEO of bitcoin exchange BitInstant, was sentenced to 2 years in prison for his role in laundering money for users of the Silk Road, an online marketplace that catered to illicit goods and services.
Shrem had entered a plea bargain which involved surrendering $950,000 to the US government and pleading guilty to aiding and abetting the operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business.
Sources:
http://insidebitcoins.com/news/charles-shrem-sentenced-former-bitcoin-entrepreneur-gets-two-years-in-prison/27768
http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoins-first-felon-charlie-shrem-begins-2-year-sentence/
Microsoft Accepts Bitcoin - December 11, 2014
Microsoft revealed it will accept Bitcoin from US customers for "apps, games and other digital content" offered on the Windows and Xbox online stores. The announcement was made via a post on the tech giant's blog and stated that Microsoft had partnered with Bitpay for Bitcoin payment processing.
Sources:
https://blogs.microsoft.com/firehose/2014/12/11/now-you-can-exchange-bitcoins-to-buy-apps-games-and-more-for-windows-windows-phone-and-xbox/
http://money.cnn.com/2014/12/11/technology/microsoft-bitcoin/
The Slaying of BearWhale - October 6, 2014
An unknown trader places nearly 30,000 BTC for sale on the Bitstamp exchange at a limit price of $300 per bitcoin, worth roughly $9 million USD. The order was dubbed the "BearWhale" by the Bitcoin community due to its unprecedented size.
Over the next 24 hours, the entire BearWhale order is fulfilled on the exchange via buy orders.
Sources:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102070437
https://reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/2ifjr8/the_slaying_of_bearwhale_30k_btc_sell_order_being/
http://shapeshift.io/bearwhale.html
Paypal Subsidiary Braintree to Accept Bitcoin - September 8, 2014
Braintree, a subsidiary of Paypal, announces that it is partnering with Coinbase to accept Bitcoin payments on their platform. Over the next three months, the two companies will work on integrating Bitcoin payment processing for Braintree merchants. The Bitcoin payment option will be seamlessly enabled for all merchants on the platform. Braintree merchants need only sign up for a Coinbase account and link it to their Braintree account.
The news adds to speculation that Paypal is becoming more favorable towards Bitcoin, and may eventually integrate it into their own payment processing system.
Sources:
http://blog.coinbase.com/post/96987622472/braintree-partners-with-coinbase-to-accept-bitcoin
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/sep/11/paypal-bitcoin-braintree-overstock-reddit
Dell Accepts Bitcoin - July 18, 2014
Founder Michael Dell announces on Twitter that dell.com now accepts Bitcoin. Customers in the United States (only) can purchase any product listed on Dell's online marketplace using Bitcoin. All Bitcoin transactions are to be handled by Coinbase, a Bitcoin payment processor. At a yearly revenue of $56 billion, Dell becomes the largest company to accept Bitcoin.
This announcement follows a number of other major online retailers' acceptance of Bitcoin payments in 2014 (Overstock on 2014-01-09 via processor Coinbase, Tiger Direct on 2014-01-23, and Newegg on 2014-07-01 via processor Bitpay).
Sources:
http://en.community.dell.com/dell-blogs/direct2dell/b/direct2dell/archive/2014/07/18/we-re-now-accepting-bitcoin-on-dell-com.aspx
https://twitter.com/MichaelDell/status/490162239983599616
http://coinfire.cf/2014/07/18/breaking-dell-now-accepts-bitcoin/
New York DFS Releases Proposed “BitLicense” - July 17, 2014
Benjamin M. Lawsky, Superintendent of New York's Department of Financial Services, announces a proposed set of regulations for businesses that interact with Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. The goal of the new regulations, according to Lawsky, are to help "protect consumers and root out illegal activity – without stifling beneficial innovation". The regulations would require entities that deal in Bitcoin to run background checks/fingerprints for all employees, get written approval for new business activities by the state, and to immediately convert any Bitcoin profit to US dollars. Affected entities would be exchanges, mining pools, bulk Bitcoin sellers, and altcoin software creators based in New York state, or that have customers in New York state. News of these regulations are generally rebuked by the cryptocurrency community.
Sources:
http://www.dfs.ny.gov/about/press2014/pr1407171.html
http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/2aycxs/hi_this_is_ben_lawsky_at_nydfs_here_are_the/
US Marshals Service Auctions 29,656 Seized Bitcoins - June 27, 2014
Nearly 30,000 government seized Bitcoins, obtained by the US Marshals Service during the October 2013 bust of the Silk Road website, are auctioned off in chunks of 3,000 bitcoins. Bidders are required to deposit $200,000 USD via bank wire in order to qualify for the auction. A single bidder (venture capitalist Tim Draper) won every auction, indicating that his winning bid prices were far higher than the current market price.
Sources:
http://www.coindesk.com/us-marshals-one-auction-bidder-claimed-all-30000-silk-road-bitcoins/
http://abcnews.go.com/US/tim-draper-bought-auctioned-bitcoins-seized-silk-road/story?id=24399619
Mining Pool GHash.io Reaches 51% - June 13, 2014
Due to GHash.io's popularity and partnership with CEX.io to sell mining shares of their own mining hardware, the mining pool giant gains a sole majority of the Bitcoin network hashing power, and the ability to launch a successful 51% attack on the Bitcoin network. With a majority of the Bitcoin network hashing power, GHash.io could temporarily reverse transactions that they send (double spending) and prevent other transactions from being confirmed.
GHash.io responds by stating they "have and never will participate in any 51% attack". The pool also issues a press statement declaring that it will attempt to limit its hashing power to 39.99% by "actively asking miners to take their hardware away from GHash.IO and mine on other pools", as well as form a committee to assist Bitcoin core developers in solving the 51% attack problem.
Sources:
http://blog.cex.io/official-statement-on-51-threat-and-closed-round-table/
http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/06/after-reaching-51-network-power-bitcoin-mining-pool-says-trust-us/
Chinese Exchanges’ Bank Accounts Closed - April 10, 2014
The People's Bank of China's frequently updated restrictions against Bitcoin finally pressure some Chinese banks to issue a deadline against several bitcoin exchanges, requiring them to close their accounts by April 15. Although some are spared the warnings, the uncertain regulatory environment holds some prominent loopholes that virtually all Chinese exchanges quickly adopt. Using offshore banks, novel cryptographic voucher systems and other solutions, these trading platforms continue to operate, but at greatly reduced volumes from their hayday in 2013.
Sources:
http://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-price-crashes-chinese-exchanges-stop-bank-deposits/
IRS Declares Bitcoin To Be Taxed As Property - March 26, 2014
The IRS policy document declares Bitcoin to be property, not currency, subject to capital gains tax – with that tax calculated against every change in buying power for a given amount of bitcoin, from the time it's acquired to the time it's spent. The decision is widely derided as unwieldy and overly complex, requiring users of the currency to record Bitcoin's market price with every transaction, subject to an array of largely unfamiliar calculations. Others, however, remark that the net tax paid may often be less than if Bitcoin were treated as currency proper - but to a market that emerged in tax-free innocence, it is a difficult blow to soften.
Sources:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-25/bitcoin-is-property-not-currency-in-tax-system-irs-says.html
Newsweek Claims Dorian Nakamoto is Bitcoin’s Creator - March 6, 2014
In an article titled "The Face Behind Bitcoin", journalist Leah McGrath Goodman writes that an unemployed engineer in Temple City, California is in fact Bitcoin's creator. Based on speculations and interviews with Dorian's family, Goodman's article ultimately draws an enourmous amount of worldwide attention to Dorian Nakamoto, who denies any involvement in Bitcoin and asks for privacy from the media.
The Bitcoin community would later go on to raise about $23,000 for Dorian Nakamoto.
Sources:
http://www.newsweek.com/2014/03/14/face-behind-bitcoin-247957.html
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/10/dorian-nakamoto-fingered-as-bitcoin-creator-wants-to-sue-newsweek/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satoshi_Nakamoto#Dorian_Nakamoto
Mt. Gox Closes - February 24, 2014
After putting an abrupt halt to withdrawals on February 6, claiming that a hacker had exploited their own poorly-implemented software through the use of transaction malleability attacks, disgraced bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox's website and trading engine go blank without official comment. Other exchanges and Bitcoin businesses issue a joint statement condemning the mismanagement, deception, and eventual collapse wrought by the executives of the Japan-based exchange, after an alleged leaked internal document showed that over 744,000 BTC were lost by the company.
Sources:
http://recode.net/2014/02/24/the-mt-gox-bitcoin-exchange-has-disappeared/
http://blog.coinbase.com/post/77766809700/joint-statement-regarding-mtgox
Major Exchanges Hit With DDoS Attacks - February 7, 2014
Mt. Gox, Bitstamp, and BTC-e all experienced a stoppage of trading due to massive DDoS attacks that were apparently aimed at exploiting transaction maleability in the exchanges' software. Mt. Gox halted withdrawals first, on February 6, evidently contributing to a sharp drop in BTC price; the DDoS attack was detected on February 11, 2014.
Due to a host of problems at Mt. Gox, it may not be clear that the DDoS attack was primarily responsible for the problems they experienced on February 6th. [1]
Sources:
http://techcrunch.com/2014/02/06/mt-gox-temporarily-pauses-bitcoin-withdrawals/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/leoking/2014/02/12/bitcoin-hit-by-massive-ddos-attack-as-tensions-rise/
http://www.coindesk.com/btc-e-online-following-ddos-attack/
http://www.coindesk.com/massive-concerted-attack-launched-bitcoin-exchanges/
Chinese Government Bans Financial Institutions From Using Bitcoin - December 5, 2013
Putting its first restraints on Bitcoin's surging popularity, the People's Bank of China declares Satoshi Nakamoto's novel invention not to be a currency. The policy change prohibits any financial institution to trade, insure, or otherwise offer services related to Bitcoin. Over the following weeks, further restrictions slowly strangle the Chinese cryptocurrency markets, as exchanges repeatedly try to find innovative, lasting ways to stay in operation, and prices around the globe sink dramatically.
Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/06/business/international/china-bars-banks-from-using-bitcoin.html
http://money.cnn.com/2013/12/05/investing/china-bitcoin/
Exchange Rate Peaks at $1,242 on Mt. Gox - November 29, 2013
Rapidly growing Bitcoin investment from China steadily drives prices higher and higher, reaching a peak on November 29th. Subject to strict controls concerning the movement of money across the country's borders, Chinese citizens embrace the freedom provided by Bitcoin with open arms, seeking an alternative to the state's inflating official currency, the Renminbi. The origin of mainstream Chinese interest in Bitcoin is largely credited to Jet Li's One Foundation, which publicized a Bitcoin address for donations in the wake of the April 20th, 2013 Lushan earthquake and received over 230 BTC in just two days, covered widely in the national media.
Sources:
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/bitcoin-tops-1-200-does-its-fate-rest-chinas-hands-f2D11673316
http://www.mbaskool.com/business-articles/finance/8808-the-bitcoin-boom-and-bust.html
People’s Bank of China OK’s Bitcoin - November 20, 2013
Speaking in Chinese at an economic forum, Mr. Yi says that “people are free to participate in the Bitcoin market,” and that he would “personally adopt a long-term perspective on the currency.” News of his statements energize the already active Chinese bitcoin markets, with the largest, BTC China, seeing trade volumes more than twice those of the world's second-largest exchange, Mt. Gox.
Sources:
http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/22/bitcoin-gets-a-cautious-nod-from-chinas-central-bank/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=2
US Senate Holds Hearing On Bitcoin - November 18, 2013
Announced under the title "Beyond Silk Road: Potential Risks, Threats, and Promises of Virtual Currencies," hope for the U.S. Government panel's discussion is dim among the Bitcoin community leading up to the hearing. As the proceedings commence, however, many of the panelists and Senators agree that Bitcoin holds great promise. The general consensus is summed up by Jennifer Shasky Calvery, Director of the U.S. Government's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), who testified, “We want to operate in a way that does not hinder innovation.”
Sources:
http://onbitcoin.com/2013/11/18/senate-committee-listens-bitcoin-experts-expresses-open-mindedness/
http://www.hsgac.senate.gov/hearings/beyond-silk-road-potential-risks-threats-and-promises-of-virtual-currencies
Dread Pirate Roberts Arrested - October 1, 2013
Following a trail of clues left carelessly across the internet, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (in conjunction with other agencies) manages to identify the alleged operator of the dark web marketplace, which saw most of its sales in illicit drugs. Ross Ulbricht, claimed by the FBI to be the site's founder, Dread Pirate Roberts, is arrested in a San Francisco Public Library and charged with narcotics trafficking, computer hacking, money laundering and engaging in a “continuing criminal enterprise.” About 30,000 BTC of the Silk Road's alleged bitcoin holdings are seized at the time, and an additional 144,000 BTC from DPR's private holdings are swept up three weeks later.
Sources:
http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/2/4794780/fbi-seizes-underground-drug-market-silk-road-owner-indicted-in-new
http://money.cnn.com/2013/10/02/technology/silk-road-shut-down/
Tradehill Shuts Down (Again) - August 30, 2013
The business-to-business bitcoin exchange had been reliant on the relatively new Internet Archive Federal Credit Union to hold its clients' deposits in regulation-compliant, insured accounts. When the IAFCU determines that it can not reasonably handle the myriad regulatory issues surrounding Bitcoin, Tradehill is forced to halt operations and return customers' funds.
Sources:
http://www.coindesk.com/tradehill-halts-trading-due-to-iafcu-operational-and-regulatory-issues/
https://internetcreditunion.org/uncategorized/rocky-road-is-still-one-of-my-favorite-flavors/
DHS Seizure Warrant Against Mt. Gox - May 14, 2013
When Mt. Gox opened an American bank account with Wells Fargo, President and CEO Mark Karpelès answered “no” to the questions, “Do you deal in or exchange currency for your customer?” and “Does your business accept funds from customers and send the funds based on customers’ instructions (Money Transmitter)?” The U.S. Government thinks otherwise. With the warrant signed, Homeland Security Investigations seizes $2,915,507.40 from an account owned by a Mt. Gox subsidiary that was used to process payments to and from U.S. customers, and the future of Bitcoin's legal status becomes ever more uncertain.
Sources:
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/05/feds-reveal-the-search-warrant-that-seized-mt-gox-account/
http://gigaom.com/2013/08/19/feds-seized-2-9m-in-bitcoin-funds-from-mt-gox-court-docs-show
Increased Trading Volume Breaks Mt. Gox - April 10, 2013
Originally thought to be a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack on the largest bitcoin exchange, the great influx of traders on the heels of Cyprus's bailout announcement overwhelms Mt. Gox's servers, causing trades to stutter and fail. Speculative concerns about the exchange's hiccups feed a powerful panic-sell that saturates the market and drives prices down to pre-rally levels, before rising again a few days later.
Sources:
https://web.archive.org/web/20130411093814/https://mtgox.com/press_release_20130411.html
Cyprus Bail-In - March 25, 2013
Orchestrated by Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades, the Eurogroup, the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the €10 billion bailout is hoped to fortify the flagging Cypriot economy. Among its conditions, however, is a sizable levy collected from most bank accounts with holdings over the €100,000 cutoff - a serious concern not just for wealthy Cypriots but many internationals, as the nation's favorable policies had made it a popular global tax haven, particularly in Russia. Seeking solutions to preserve their holdings before the bailout's conditions take effect, many of these account holders begin buying bitcoin en masse, driving a price rally through early April that brought the value of one bitcoin from about $80 to over $260.
Sources:
http://money.cnn.com/2013/03/28/investing/bitcoin-cyprus/
Bitcoin 0.8 Causes Brief Hard Fork - March 11, 2013
Shaking confidence in Bitcoin and the validity of some transactions, the price briefly plummets and the Mt. Gox exchange temporarily suspends bitcoin deposits. Thanks to a swift and coordinated response by Bitcoin developers, miners, and community members, the fork is resolved within hours after the operators of two large mining pools, Michael Marsee (of BTC Guild) and Marek Palatinus (of slush's pool), honorably forgo some of their accumulated mining rewards in order to downgrade to the previous, compatible version. An updated version, 0.8.1, is released shortly after, containing safeguards to prevent the original problem.
Sources:
https://bitcoin.org/en/alert/2013-03-11-chain-fork
https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0050.mediawiki
Halving Day - November 28, 2012
In line with the original design for Bitcoin's maturation, the number of coins created to reward miners undergoes its first reduction, beginning the long and gradual process of tapering the amount of new currency entering the economy. These “Halving Days” are scheduled to occur every four years, stepping down the number of new bitcoins generated until the reward reaches 0 in the year 2140, to yield a fixed money supply of 20,999,999.9769 BTC. This pre-programmed limit to inflation is a major driver of the currency's economic controversy, value appreciation and speculation.
Sources:
http://www.prlog.org/12032578-bitcoin-community-celebrates-halving-day.html
https://blockchain.info/block/000000000000048b95347e83192f69cf0366076336c639f9b7228e9ba171342e
WordPress Accepts Bitcoin - November 15, 2012
In a smart and savvy release, Wordpress explains the decision: “PayPal alone blocks access from over 60 countries, and many credit card companies have similar restrictions... we don’t think an individual blogger from Haiti, Ethiopia, or Kenya should have diminished access to the blogosphere because of payment issues they can’t control. Our goal is to enable people, not block them.” As one of the 25 most popular domains on the web, Wordpress's move paves the way for later retail ventures in Bitcoin.
Sources:
http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2012/11/15/pay-another-way-bitcoin/
Bitcoins Savings & Trust Halts Payments - August 17, 2012
Promising consistent weekly “interest” returns of 7% to its creditors, Trendon T. Shavers (known on BitcoinTalk as Pirateat40) manages the secretive operation for about eight months, accepting only large deposits of bitcoin (50+ BTC) and paying out “interest” weekly. On August 17, 2012, Pirateat40 announces a halt to the operation, and absconds with deposits estimated between 86,202 and 500,000 BTC. On July 23, 2013, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission files charges against Shavers for defrauding investors in a Ponzi scheme.
Sources:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=50822.0
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=261290.0
Linode Hacked, Over 46,000 BTC Stolen - March 1, 2012
An unknown hacker breaches Linode's server network and immediately seeks out accounts related to bitcoin, quickly compromising the wallets of eight customers. Bitcoinica, a large online bitcoin exchange, is hardest hit, losing more than 43,000 BTC, while other prominent victims include Bitcoin's lead developer Gavin Andresen as well as Marek Palatinus (also known as slush), the operator of a large mining pool. Both Bitcoinica and slush's pool bear the theft's losses on behalf of their customers.
Sources:
http://arstechnica.com/business/2012/03/bitcoins-worth-228000-stolen-from-customers-of-hacked-webhost/
https://web.archive.org/web/20120302143922/http://status.linode.com/2012/03/manager-security-incident.html
Paxum and Tradehill Drop Bitcoin - February 11, 2012
On February 11, 2012, Paxum, an online payment service and popular means for exchanging bitcoin announces it will cease all dealings related to the currency due to concerns of its legality. Two days later, regulatory issues surrounding money transmission compel the popular bitcoin exchange and services firm TradeHill to terminate its business and immediately begin selling its bitcoin assets to refund its customers and creditors. The following day, Patrick Strateman, known on BitcoinTalk as phantomcircuit, benevolently discloses a devastating bug in how BTC-E, another online exchange, secures its clients' accounts and funds.
Sources:
http://themonetaryfuture.blogspot.com/2012/02/paxum-exits-from-bitcoin-business.html
http://blog.bitcointitan.com/post/17660291959/cause-of-the-btcusd-crash-on-february-13th-2012
https://web.archive.org/web/20120822072101/http://bitcoinmedia.com/warning-btc-e-compromised/
“The Good Wife” Airs “Bitcoin for Dummies” TV Episode - December 19, 2011
After the initial announcement of this upcoming, Bitcoin-themed episode, investors bet big on the show to catapult prices to new highs. About 9.45 million viewers tune in to watch "Bitcoin for Dummies" on January 15, 2012; the story involves a government manhunt for the creator of Bitcoin, who is charged with creating a currency in competition with the U.S. Dollar. Despite the massive exposure, prices remain stagnant following the show's airing.
Sources:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2148561/
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=53235.0
Mt. Gox Hacked - June 19, 2011
By gaining access to the credentials of an official auditor working for the Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange, a hacker downloads a slightly out-of-date copy of the website's user database, including email addresses and insecurely hashed passwords. Using their newfound administrator-level access to the site, they place countless offers to sell bitcoins that don't exist, falsely deflating prices until the going rate reaches just $0.01 per coin. Mt. Gox reverses the fraudulent transactions and halts trading for seven days to re-secure their systems, and two other large exchanges issue temporary halts while their own security is reviewed. Soon after, a copy of the database is leaked and is used to launch attacks against accounts held by users of the MyBitcoin online wallet service who share the same password on both sites, resulting in thefts of over 4,019 BTC from roughly 600 wallets.
Sources:
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/security/bitcoin-market-flash-crash-and-database-leak-from-mt-gox/8811
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=19491.0
Gawker Publishes Article About The Silk Road - June 1, 2011
Titled “The Underground Website Where You Can Buy Any Drug Imaginable,” Adrian Chen's piece on Gawker is as provocative as it is popular. To many people reading it, the sudden realization that Bitcoin has a useful value – one that's entirely unique - hits home. With a link to Mt. Gox in the text, the article starts an enormous upswing in price that beats all previous records, reaching over $31 per bitcoin just one week after publication.
Sources:
http://gawker.com/the-underground-website-where-you-can-buy-any-drug-imag-30818160
Three New Exchanges Open Supporting More Fiat Currencies - March 27, 2011
On March 27, 2011, Britcoin launches the first exchange to trade bitcoin and British Pound Sterling (GBP). Just days later, on March 31, Bitcoin Brazil opens a service for face-to-face exchange in Brazilian Reals (BRL) and U.S. Dollars. On April 5, BitMarket.eu begins facilitating trades in Euros (EUR) and other currencies. Together, they simplify bitcoin ownership and trading for hundreds of millions of new users and the market is expanded enormously.
Sources:
https://web.archive.org/web/20120331084706/https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5441.0
Bitcoin Price Hits $1.00 USD - February 9, 2011
Just two years old, Bitcoin achieves parity with the U.S. Dollar on the Mt. Gox exchange. The following day, some popular news outlets feature stories on the symbolic milestone, causing such a surge of interest in the growing currency that the official Bitcoin website is temporarily hobbled.
Sources:
http://beta.slashdot.org/story/147526
First mainstream article on Bitcoin in PC World - December 10, 2010
First mainstream article on Bitcoin appeared in PC World Online Magazine discussing the options cryptocurrencies can offer in relation to the Wikileaks scandal.
https://www.pcworld.com/article/213230/could_wikileaks_scandal_lead_to_new_virtual_currency.html
Bitcoin Protocol Bug Causes Hard Fork - August 15, 2010
Using a peculiar quirk of the way computers process numbers, an unknown person creates a fraudulent transaction that generates 184,467,440,737.08554078 bitcoins – nearly nine-thousand times as many as can legitimately exist in the entire system. The oddity is quickly spotted by Bitcoin developers and community members, and a fixed version of the Bitcoin software is released within hours. By the next day, the corrected blockchain overtakes the exploited one, and Bitcoin is back in normal operation – but not before the market is badly shaken.
Sources:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=822.0
http://sourceforge.net/p/bitcoin/mailman/message/25954806/
Mt. Gox Opens For Business - July 18, 2010
Jed McCaleb, a programmer best known for creating the successful eDonkey peer-to-peer network in 2000, announces the launch of Mt. Gox, a new full-time bitcoin exchange. Based on a prior, abandoned project of McCaleb's to create an online exchange for Magic: The Gathering cards, he soon struggles to keep up with the demands of the business and sells mtgox.com to Mark Karpelès on March 6, 2011. Mt. Gox would slowly grow to dominate the world of bitcoin trading over the next three years.
Sources:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=444.0
Bitcoin Posted on Slashdot - July 11, 2010
The release of Bitcoin version 0.3 is featured on slashdot.org, a popular news and technology website. Reaching a large audience of technophiles, the article brings many newly-interested people on board, driving the exchange value of a single bitcoin up nearly tenfold, from approximately $0.008 to $0.08 in just five days.
Sources:
http://slashdot.org/story/10/07/11/1747245/bitcoin-releases-version-03
Two Pizzas Are First Material Item Purchased Using Bitcoin - May 22, 2010
BitcoinTalk user laszlo (Laszlo Hanyecz) pays 10,000 BTC for two pizzas delivered to their house (valued at about $25), ordered and paid for by another user, jercos. This assigns the first concrete valuation to bitcoin - about $0.0025 per coin.
Sources:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=137.0
http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/this-pizza-is-worth-750000
The First Bitcoin-to-Fiat Exchange Occurs - October 12, 2009
Using PayPal, NewLibertyStandard buys 5,050 BTC from Sirius for $5.02, equating to roughly one tenth of a cent per bitcoin.
Sources:
https://twitter.com/marttimalmi/status/423455561703624704
https://blockchain.info/tx/7dff938918f07619abd38e4510890396b1cef4fbeca154fb7aafba8843295ea2
New Liberty Standard Publishes First Exchange Rate - October 5, 2009
New Liberty Standard opens a service to buy and sell bitcoin, with an initial exchange rate of 1,309.03 BTC to one U.S. Dollar, or about eight hundredths of a cent per bitcoin. The rate is derived from the cost of electricity used by a computer to generate, or “mine” the currency.
Sources:
https://web.archive.org/web/20091229132610/http://newlibertystandard.wetpaint.com/page/Exchange+Rate
Genesis Block Established - January 3, 2009
The first Bitcoin transaction record, or genesis block, kicks off the Bitcoin blockchain and includes a reference to a pertinent newspaper headline of that day:
The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.
The initial Bitcoin program and its source code are released by Satoshi Nakamoto six days later.
Sources:
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Genesis_block
http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg10142.html
Free Bitcoin Crash Course
- Enjoyed by over 100,000 students.
- One email a day, 7 days in a row.
- Short and educational, guaranteed!
Why you can trust 99Bitcoins
10+ Years
Established in 2013, 99Bitcoin’s team members have been crypto experts since Bitcoin’s Early days.
90hr+
Weekly Research
100k+Monthly readers
50+
Expert contributors
2000+Crypto Projects Reviewed
Disclaimer
Crypto is a high-risk asset class. This article is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice. You could lose all of your capital.