2018 Cryptocurrency Wrap Up
Every major crypto news story throughout the year summarised.
What a wild ride the 2018 cryptocurrency market has been. I’ve taken a look back and summarised all the major newsworthy stories so you can soak it all in and gain perspective going into 2019.
January (BTC high — $17,283)
January 9 — Kodak announces the launch of its own cryptocurrency, signalling the first major mainstream use of the technology in an alternative field.
January 10 — One of the largest consumer Bitcoin adopters, South Korea, release news that the Government was considering a ban on cryptocurrency. An already deflated market takes a further hit.
January 18 — The bull market was officially over when news that Bitcoin had dropped below $10,000 USD. The price had halved since late December causing widespread distress for new investors who had invested during the hype.
January 27 — Japanese exchange ‘Coincheck’ is hacked with a record $530 million USD worth of cryptocurrency stolen.
January 30 — Facebook announces a ban on all ads promoting cryptocurrency and Initial Coin Offerings (ICO’s). They state this is due to concerns around financial products that could be misleading.
February (BTC high — $11,901)
February 2 — Tether hits the headlines after concerns whether the company Tether Limited (creator of Tether) actually holds enough USD to back all the Tethered Dollars in circulation.
February 5 — Major banking providers (VISA, Mastercard) announce a banning of cryptocurrency purchases on credit cards citing customer security and regulation issues.
February 6 — In positive news for the long term future of cryptocurrency, US financial regulatory authorities discuss the crypto industry optimistically whilst also bringing up genuine concerns around ICO regulation. Co-ordinated regulation was considered the key to future growth of the sector.
February 20 — Venezuela announces the launch of its own ‘oil-backed’ cryptocurrency aptly named the ‘petro’.
March (BTC high — $11,677)
March 2 — Governor of the Bank of England likens cryptocurrency trading to ‘speculative mania’. He calls for regulation and points out it will likely be a set of national steps rather than an international approach initially.
March 8 — Due to the Coincheck hack in January, Japanese regulators shut down two crypto exchanges due to not undertaking the required monitoring to the correct standard.
March 13 — Google announces ban on cryptocurrency advertising citing concerns around potential for consumer harm.
March 19 — Bitcoin hits a low of $7400 dropping $4200+ in value in only 13 days, causing a mainstream media frenzy.
March 23 — The world’s largest crypto exchange — Binance, moves headquarters from Japan to Malta due to regulation pressure in its home country.
March 26 — Twitter joins other technology giants and bans cryptocurrency advertising citing potential misleading or deceptive promotional practices as the reason.
April (BTC high — $9,677)
April 5 — India’s central bank bans financial firms from dealing with cryptocurrencies.
April 11 — Australian legislation amended allowing for the regulation of cryptocurrency exchanges by the regulator AUSTRAC.
April 12 — In under an hour, Bitcoin’s value skyrocketed by more than $1000 USD with a trade volume move of over 1 Billion Dollars. Speculation is rife that a very large investor was involved.
April 23 — Coinbase suspends Wikileaks bitcoin account — ending a relationship founded in the roots of crypto, when established pay providers blocked all fiat accounts to the controversial association in late 2010.
April 25 — Bitcoin has a huge rally during April, hitting a peak just shy of $10,000 from a low of $6,574 earlier in the month. Optimism for another bull run is high once again.
April 25 — NASDAQ CEO openly stated the exchange is open to becoming a cryptocurrency exchange.
May (BTC high — $9,874)
May 11 — The cryptocurrency market loses over 50 billion dollars of value in the space of 24 hours.
May 11 — Nvidia announces it made $289 million through cryptocurrency sales alone in the first quarter of 2018; reflecting the appetite for their popular mining graphics cards.
May 11 — Facebook is beginning to research the potential of building its own cryptocurrency. The social media giant was looking to have its own token for users to exchange outside of using a fiat backed system.
May 15 — Crypto start-up ‘Circle’ raises a record 110 million dollars in venture capital to build a new Tether like currency. Notably Chinese behemoth Bitmain were the main contributor.
May 24 — US regulators team up to probe cryptocurrency trading and ICO’s for signs of market manipulation such as ‘pump and dumps’. Due to significant losses to ‘alt’ coin value these issues were gaining high level attention and resultant media interest.
June (BTC high — $7,718)
June 11 — South Korean Cryptocurrency Exchange Coinrail loses $35 Million USD in crypto due to cyber-attack. Bitcoin price drops $500 in response.
June 14 — Ether price soars 10% after SEC confirms that it is not considered a security.
June 19 — Only 8 days after Coinrail is hacked, another South Korean exchange (Bithumb) loses $31 Million to cyber criminals.
June 26 — Facebook begins to allow cryptocurrency based advertising under strict application guidelines in a positive move for the industry.
July (BTC high — $8,363)
July 16 — Reports that the world’s largest asset manager, Blackrock, has set up a working group to investigate cryptocurrency and blockchain. The CEO does however, advise that no clients were actively proposing for crypto exposure. Take of that what you will.
July 17 — IBM teams up with Stronghold to work together on payment solutions using a ‘Crypto Dollar’ stable coin.
July 24 — Bitwise files for a SEC regulated cryptocurrency ETF to be called ‘HOLD 10 Cryptocurrency Index Fun’. Positive sentiment increases as regulators appear open to allowing indexes that operate similar to other financial products.
July 27 — Google joins other technology companies in banning mining apps from their play store.
August (BTC high — $6,961)
August 8 — There was 9 Billion USD of Bitcoin value wiped from the market after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) postpones ETF decision on whether it would approve a bitcoin exchange-traded fund, proposed by SolidX and VanEck.
August 9 — According to a Gem/Harris Insights survey, 41% of Americans would not buy cryptocurrency and only 8% held any type of crypto. Notably the CEO of Gem stated that cryptocurrency is still in its ‘Wild West’ phase.
August 20 — China to block more than 120 offshore cryptocurrency exchanges, as part of a wider crackdown on digital currency.
August 27 — One of the world’s largest cryptocurrency companies Bitmain, starts pursuing a stock listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
September (BTC high — $7,387)
September 5 — Goldman Sachs shelves plans to open a cryptocurrency trading desk due to the uncertain regulatory framework around the sector.
September 6 — There is a massive drop in Bitcoin and alt coin value, as the market falls significantly. Media commentary point out a number of factors, including the Goldman Sachs news and the effect Bitcoin futures implementation has had over the manipulation of markets.
September 19 — Zaif cryptocurrency exchange loses $60 million in another SE Asian crypto hack.
September 25 — Google ends its cryptocurrency ad ban — allowing advertising with stringent checks and balances.
October (BTC high $6,948)
October 11 — Bitcoin’s value plummets in line with a similar loss of market value in traditional stock exchanges.
October 15 — The first wall street company (Fidelity) to launch a hedge fund for cryptocurrency announces intentions.
October 15 — The price of Bitcoin jumps almost 10% after worry enters the market over the stability of the Tether USD token. Investors were actively moving from Tether back to BTC in droves.
October 24 — Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) grants cryptocurrency ‘self-regulation’ status.
October 31 — Bitcoin hits its 10 year anniversary.
November (BTC high $6,550)
November 1 — Hong Kong regulators begin to shape the future of cryptocurrency with documentation around crypto assets; paving the way for the industry to move forward.
November 15 — Bitcoin Cash forks into BCH ABC and BCH SV. This triggers major instability in price, driving down Bitcoin’s value to circa $4,000 USD from a stable position of around $6,300 USD for well over a month prior.
November 16 — Subsidiary industries related to cryptocurrency are starting to feel the pinch. Nvidia loses 20% of its value after over capitalising on popular mining hardware production.
November 26 — Ohio in the US is the first state to allow taxpayers to pay tax with cryptocurrency.
November 30 — American regulator SEC charges high profile cryptocurrency promoters Floyd Mayweather and DJ Khaled, for their involvement in ICO’s.
December (BTC high $4,278)
December 6 — Bitcoin plunges more than 11 percent to reach a new low for 2018.
December 19 — In a step towards acceptance, the United Kingdom release tax advice for cryptocurrency investors.
December 21 — Facebook reportedly creating a cryptocurrency to be used with WhatsApp messaging service.
December 27 — Litecoin becomes the first cryptocurrency to sponsor the UFC.
December 27 — The Indian Government show signs of a possible lifting of the ban on cryptocurrency in the country for 2019.
In summary, 2018 has been arguably the most tumultuous in cryptocurrency history. The year has ended on a slight rebound in price, which is extremely tame compared to where the sector was at the end of 2017. Regulators around the world have started to implement some of the long-awaited guidelines required to stabilise the industry. The year was characterised by a maturing of existing strong crypto-businesses; and a culling of companies that crashed after their ICO fuelled capital raising came crashing down.
My news pick of the year is the Bitcoin Cash fork. It is ironic that a cryptocurrency that forked from the original chain, was caught in a fork of its own. The resultant media frenzy and price fluctuation is what makes this the most significant event this year.
Sponsored by Easy Crypto (www.easycrypto.nz | www.easycrypto.com.au)
