2019: The Year Bitcoin Lost Its Mind

Many market analysts think thiswill be the year that Bitcoin finally breaks loose and makes its inevitable run to $100,000.Everything’s Going Haywire in Bitcoin

I think it’s the year that everything went haywire.

Look, this year we found out that a good percentage of Tethers are backed by thin air. What this means is that a lot of Bitcoin volume should be cut by a roughly equivalent percentage.

People shouldn’t have continued using Tether, but they did. And they’ll continue to because no one has any sense left in this era of crypto.

This year, we suffered two massive hacks, and people actually discussed “reorganizing” the Bitcoin blockchain. As we said, everyone’s crazy right now.

Now we’ve got sex scandals. Yep, our very own Dr. Phil moment, you might say, in which Bitcoin developer Peter Todd has been accused of misconduct.RelatedPostsCrypto Market Leaders Differ on Pace of Inst Adoption. Who’s Right?Elizabeth Warren Accidentally Just Made the Case for BitcoinPrecious Metals Rally but Are Gold Bugs Secretly Holding Bitcoin?

Will it amount to anything? Who knows? Just as often as not, in these things, nothing wrong happened. It’s better to reserve judgment until the facts are fully trotted out.

Some reporting has it that Todd engaged in dirty talk, but it might be wise not to assume that in context, that kind of talk was seemingly welcome.Government Encroachment And All It Entails

Meanwhile, the Bitcoin maximalists are out in full force, apparently fostering a world of single-mindedness so persuasive that members of Congress are embracing it.

If that doesn’t give anyone pause, what will?

If the people who compose the government agree with a controversial position, it may be because it’s to their benefit.

Meanwhile, on Twitter, it’s all dandelions and roses. One woman single-handedly saved crypto in Congress. Wait. What? Well, leave it to the experts, people who otherwise might be taken seriously:I hope people look back on today and call this next cycle the @Melt_Dem bull run.

So excited by how well bitcoin and *real* cryptocurrencies came across in this week’s sessions.

Meltem especially crushed it. (To the surprise of no one.)

🙏🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/408wk3fvos

— Ryan Selkis (@twobitidiot) July 18, 2019

I’m convinced @Melt_Dem is Satoshi Nakamoto. https://t.co/378Jyzsc7w

— Russell Okung 🇳🇬 (@RussellOkung) July 18, 2019

Yeah, look at all this nonsense.I'll say it because everyone else is too much of a pussy I guess.

A man with @Melt_Dem's track record (nothing notable) wouldn't get half the attention she is getting.

— Alex B. (@bergealex4) July 18, 2019

As if the industry couldn’t have offered any better. Would Brian Armstrong, for example, have received this type of reception from the wider crypto world?

Whatever. There’s more absurdity yet.

In this other corner, we’ve got self-proclaimed bitcoin creator Craig Wright, desperately trying to prove he’s Satoshi Nakamoto without actually proving it. The matter’s not as complex as he makes it seem.

Furthermore, he’s now forever associated himself with the very addresses that people would like to see proof derive from – the Satoshi addresses.

This being the case, he could, assuming he’s telling the truth, easily prove his identity.

All the same, the man has consistently said that wouldn’t prove anything. But it would be more than enough for many, and it would furthermore establish at least a link to Satoshi even to the most doubtful.

Let’s not forget: Facebook’s getting into crypto.

There’s proof and then there’s cryptographic proof.

In this community, we prefer the latter.

Speaking of which, this is also the year of the absurd events at QuadrigaCX. Is the guy even dead? With everything we’ve learned in recent years, the idea that he faked his death seems just as likely.

We later learned that he unsuccessfully traded customer funds on other exchanges, eventually incurring losses the Canadian exchange could never have recovered from.

Go figure that he dies on a trip to a foreign country, where it might be difficult to determine if he’s actually dead.

Well, as I said, this is the year Bitcoin lost its mind. Whatever price the end of the year brings, let’s hope the next year brings a saner tide of events. Tags: Bitcoin