As the end of 2019 draws closure, we are looking back at the most influential news items for the blockchain sector.
5–7 January
ETC 51% attack, a nightmare for small altcoins
As a top 20 crypto asset, Ethereum Classic is not seen as an easy target for a 51 percent attack, and yet in early January, its blockchain was successfully hijacked for several days with estimated losses of $1.1 million. This attack has caused many people to panic, as the small PoW consensus coins are vulnerable to 51 attacks. Luckily ETC has not been stunned by the 51 attack, after a short fall in prices, ETC quickly created a new record of the highest price.
16 January
The only not cool thing about Grin coin is its price
Grin, with the “three nada” label-no ICO, no pre-digging, and no investors, was officially launched on 16 January. “Bitcoin 2.0”, “super privacy coins”… the cryptocurrency community was willing to give it all the good crowns. After the launch of its main network, the price of Grin coin has jumped up and down as was expected. Although Grin has experienced some bad luck as the dropout of its core developer Gary, by launching of the Asic mining machine and the Grin foundation receiving 50 bitcoin donations, this unique project is still motivated to move forward.
February
Lightning Network passed the torch all around the world and it is only a beginning
On January 19, 2019, Bitcoinist Hodlonaut began a social experiment dubbed “Lightning Torch” to test the capabilities and UX experience of the Lightning Network. In total, the torch has been a great success. Many people believe that 2019 was the year, when the Lightning Network shined. However, its security and the ease of use were frequently challenged. Not long ago, the Bitfinex exchange announced support for Lightning Network deposits and withdrawals. This is a small step for the exchange but definitely a big step for the Lightning Network.
April
USDT is going to die? Nope, it is still safe and sound
New York’s top cop accused USDT’s issuer of participating in a cover-up to hide the loss of about $850 million in client and corporate funds. People have revived doubts about Tether’s claim that each of its so-called stable coins is backed by $1 of assets — a feature that gives the coins a central role in crypto markets around the world. This has made many investors switch their boats to PAX and TUSD. But up to now, dapptotal data shows that USDT still has about 81% market share.
4 June
Justin stood Warren Buffett out
Justin, Sun Yuchen, officially announced himself the winner of the charity lunch with Warren Buffett, chairman of the holding company Berkshire Hathaway, submitting a record $4.57 million on June, 4. This news has gone viral in China, making Sun a hot topic online. However, because of coming down with kidney stones, Sun decided to postponed this meal, which has made Sun again cover the headlines of the international news media.
18 June
Facebook unveils Libra White Paper
Libra was officially announced by Facebook and 27 global industry giants on June 18, 2019. With such a global attention, Libra has faced strict regulations all around the world and many global central banks have started working on digital currencies, countering Libra.
Over the past six months, after being abandoned by few of its core members of the association, Libra was forced to slow down its pace. However, worth mentioning, because of Libra, blockchain has become the focus of global attention in 2019.
1 July
PlusToken may be driving down the price of Bitcoin
In July, Chinese media reported that the PlusToken scam attracted over 3 billion worth of cryptocurrency. Six individuals connected to PlusToken were arrested in June. The stolen funds have continued to move through wallets and be cashed out through the independent OTC brokers operating mostly on the Huobi platform. It has been speculated that PlusToken sccammers didn’t just steal $2+ billion worth of cryptocurrency. They may also be driving down the price of bitcoin.
5 August
The second halving of Litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) has experienced an event that is designated to happen once in four years: the halving of the block rewards. On Aug. 5, 2019, Litecoin rewards for producing a block were halved from 25 LTC to 12.5 LTC. A co-founder of one of the largest mining pools, F2Pool, stated on Weibo that, given the electricity costs of 0.26 yuan ($0.037) per kilowatt per hour, some mining rigs like L3+ could close their business right away.
23 September
Bakkt isn’t the chosen one, but it is growing to be the one
On September 23, silver-spoon-born Bakkt was officially launched. Specialists believed that it is likely to allow more investors and funds to enter the cryptocurrency industry. However, the platform has faced a great failure and only 72 bitcoins were traded on the first day. In early December, its daily transaction volume has quietly climbed to $ 37 million from only 72 bitcoins. Although the data is still relatively small compared to the top exchanges, being a certified platform by the regulatory body helps a lot. Through the continues development, Bakkt may become the influential platform for the Bitcoin pricing power, which will empower the platform with the super power.
25 October
Xi Jinping Urges Accelerated Blockchain Technology Adoption in China
China’s President Xi Jinping has called for the country to accelerate its adoption of blockchain technologies as a core for innovation. President Xi made the comments at a Politburo Committee session on blockchain technology trends on Oct. 24, stressing that the implementation of integrated blockchain technologies is key in promoting technological innovation and transforming industries. The next day after Politburo meeting, the price of Bitcoin soared 42% to $10,500- hitting the biggest daily gain since 2011.
29 October
Chinese cryptomining giant Bitmain’s civil war breaks into open
On 29 October, the Bitmain co-founder Wu Jihan returned to the company after an absence and replaced Mr Zhan’s name on the company’s registration documents with his own. Mr Wu threatened employees with punishment if they continued to meet or communicate with Mr Zhan or carry out any of his instructions. In the past two months, Wu Jihan offered three tempting and determined mining axes: installment payments, option hedging, and joint mining.
21 November
The call of future-Canaan is listed on NASDAQ
On November 21, Canaan was listed in NASDAQ, commemorating the first share of the blockchain going public. The listing of Canaan was almost the biggest event in the blockchain industry in November. Unfortunately, CAN broke after a short rise of 40%, falling to $4.65 up to now, reaching half of its listed price. However, worth mentioning is that listing of Canaan represents that the traditional financial world has thrown an olive branch on blockchain concept stocks, marking the beginning of the long way to go.
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