As we draw to a close of 2018 and the new year comes in it has been a roller coaster year for bitcoin,
With the long lasting hang-over from the dizzy heights of 19k to the never ending stream of attacks against users and wallets and exchanges I think as a community we should start to focus on more security applications to help prevent this sort of bad press in 2019.
Something that should stand out proud to all the long time members here is how strong the community here is together and what can be achieved with handwork, networking and the faith of the loyal legends and staff on the forum.
In the mining world we saw the results of greed and forks and started to see the seedy underbelly of "Big Business" wanting to edge in and take over, We saw Bitmain play games with miners on a large scale all things that should make people take note and understand that Bitcoin is Bitcoin and forks take away from bitcoin and the community should work to ensure that we stay focused and maintain Bitcoin to ensure it is always the leader of the pack.
A Quick breakdown of things that happened in Bitcoin in 2018.
Jan 8 - 2018 - Electrum Bitcoin Wallets Were Vulnerable to Hackers for Two Years
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/ev55na/electrum-bitcoin-wallets-were-vulnerable-to-hackers-for-two-years-json-rpcJan 23 - 2018 - Stripe Stopped Support For Bitcoin. -
https://stripe.com/blog/ending-bitcoin-supportFeb 06 - 2018 - Chairman’s Testimony on Virtual Currencies: The Roles of the SEC and CFTC
https://www.sec.gov/news/testimony/testimony-virtual-currencies-oversight-role-us-securities-and-exchange-commissionFeb 15 - 2018 - CFTC: Examining Pending Rules, Cryptocurrency Regulation, and Cross-Border Agreements
https://www.agriculture.senate.gov/hearings/state-of-the-cftc-examining-pending-rules-cryptocurrency-regulation-and-cross-border-agreementsMarch 7 - 2018 - MTGOX Creditor Meeting
https://www.mtgox.com/img/pdf/20180307_report.pdfApril 17 - 2018 - Coindesk & Why $7.9K Is Bitcoin’s New Price to Watch
https://www.coindesk.com/8500-bitcoin-eyes-gains-with-key-support-at-7900May 18 - 2018 - Even More Bullish After after Consensus 2018, Says Tom Lee.
https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/05/18/even-more-bullish-on-bitcoin-after-consensus-2018-says-fundstrats-tom-lee.htmlJune 22 - 2018 - Bitcoin Price Falls to New 2018 Low
https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-price-falls-to-lowest-total-seen-in-2018July 23 - 2018 - G20 Eyes October Deadline for Crypto Anti-Money Laundering Standard
https://www.coindesk.com/g20-eyes-october-deadline-for-crypto-anti-money-laundering-standardAugust 31 - 2018 - Bitcoin Price Loses 10% In August But Long-Term Bottom May Be In
https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-lost-10-in-august-but-may-have-made-long-term-bottomSeptember 17 - 2018 - Bitcoin Core CVE-2018-17144 Exploit Found.
https://bitcoincore.org/en/2018/09/20/notice/October 29 -2018 - Bitcoin Could End October With 2018’s First Year-Over-Year Decline
https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-price-may-report-yearly-loss-on-its-10th-birthdayNovember 30 - 2018 - Capitulation? Bitcoin’s Price Dropped 36% in November
https://www.coindesk.com/capitulation-bitcoins-price-dropped-36-in-novemberDecember 28 - 2018 - Electrum Wallet Attack May Have Stolen As Much as 245 Bitcoin
https://www.coindesk.com/electrum-wallet-attack-may-have-stolen-as-much-as-245-bitcoinFor many this was a wild year we saw a rise is hacks and coin mining malware we saw a further wave of attacks around the crypto space,
The message for 2019 should be that of
security. I wish everyone a Happy New Year!
Please feel free to leave your 2018 experience and what you think 2019 will hold for Bitcoin.