The developments in Bitcoin and the technological concepts it introduced have not slowed down since the publication of Digital Gold in 2015.
The Bitcoin community has been consumed by the battle over the best way to increase the volume of transactions that can move through the Bitcoin network -- the so-called "scaling debate." The debate was so nasty that developers like Mike Hearn and Gavin Andresen all but left the Bitcoin community. Nathaniel wrote about this for the New York Times and teamed up with Planet Money to do an episode on the topic.
The scaling debate pushed some members of the community to create their own fork of the Bitcoin protocol, known as Bitcoin Cash, in the summer of 2017. Roger Ver, previously known as Bitcoin Jesus, has led this movement and turned against the original Bitcoin protocol and team.
The scaling debate also brought to the fore the dominant place that China had come to assume within the Bitcoin ecosystem, with a majority of Bitcoin trading and mining happening in China. Colleagues at the New York Times did a wonderful photo essay from one of the largest Bitcoin mining installations in rural China.
The Chinese government has gone back and forth on its approach to Bitcoin, but in 2017 it cracked down hard, eventually forcing all of the large Bitcoin exchanges in the country to stop doing business in the country. It appeared that might push down the demand for Bitcoin, but new demand was coming from other Asian countries that had previously showed little interest in Bitcoin, such as Japan and Korea. Part of the interest in Japan came from the resolution of the investigation into Mt. Gox's collapse, which provided some very dramatic explanations for all the Bitcoins that Mark Karpeles had lost.
The continuing uncertainty of regulators about the proper approach toward Bitcoin was a feature around the world. The Winklevoss twins were eventually told by the Securities and Exchange Commission that they could not setup the Bitcoin exchange traded fund that they had been working on for so long. The regulators said that Bitcoin was still too undeveloped for the E.T.F. to make sense. But the twins did win regulatory approval for their virtual currency exchange, Gemini.
Despite all the conflict, the price of Bitcoin rose steadily over 2017 as many investors speculated on its value as a digital alternative to gold. But security issues continued to dog Bitcoin exchanges and Bitcoin users, with one set of hackers using an attack that targeted the cell phones of some of the wealthiest Bitcoin holders. Bitcoin also continued to be a popular way to pay for drugs online, though authorities took another stab at stopping this when they shut down two of the largest dark net markets, AlphaBay and Hansa Market, in the summer of 2017.
Much of the action in the world of virtual currencies has moved beyond Bitcoin, as alternatives and competitors sprung up everywhere. None have been more succesful than Ethereum, the global computing and virtual currency system created by a former Bitcoin aficionado, Vitalik Buterin. In the course of 2017, Ethereum nearly eclipsed Bitcoin and won much more corporate interest than Bitcoin.
Entrepreneurs also created their own virtual currencies in order to raise money for startups, in so-called initial coin offerings. This became one of the biggest trends in Silicon Valley, as startups raised over $2 billion through these coin offerings. The frenzy eventually drew the scrutiny of regulators in the United States, China, Korea and Switzerland, among other places. After serving a term in prison, Charlie Shrem launched his own coin offering and also began working with other blockchain businesses.
Businesses continued to work on their own, less open systems using the blockchain technology. IBM has led the way in this work and won over clients like WalMart and Maersk to an open source blockchain project known as Hyperledger.
To follow Nathaniel's most recent work, visit his page on The New York Times or follow him on Twitter.
The Bitcoin community has been consumed by the battle over the best way to increase the volume of transactions that can move through the Bitcoin network -- the so-called "scaling debate." The debate was so nasty that developers like Mike Hearn and Gavin Andresen all but left the Bitcoin community. Nathaniel wrote about this for the New York Times and teamed up with Planet Money to do an episode on the topic.
The scaling debate pushed some members of the community to create their own fork of the Bitcoin protocol, known as Bitcoin Cash, in the summer of 2017. Roger Ver, previously known as Bitcoin Jesus, has led this movement and turned against the original Bitcoin protocol and team.
The scaling debate also brought to the fore the dominant place that China had come to assume within the Bitcoin ecosystem, with a majority of Bitcoin trading and mining happening in China. Colleagues at the New York Times did a wonderful photo essay from one of the largest Bitcoin mining installations in rural China.
The Chinese government has gone back and forth on its approach to Bitcoin, but in 2017 it cracked down hard, eventually forcing all of the large Bitcoin exchanges in the country to stop doing business in the country. It appeared that might push down the demand for Bitcoin, but new demand was coming from other Asian countries that had previously showed little interest in Bitcoin, such as Japan and Korea. Part of the interest in Japan came from the resolution of the investigation into Mt. Gox's collapse, which provided some very dramatic explanations for all the Bitcoins that Mark Karpeles had lost.
The continuing uncertainty of regulators about the proper approach toward Bitcoin was a feature around the world. The Winklevoss twins were eventually told by the Securities and Exchange Commission that they could not setup the Bitcoin exchange traded fund that they had been working on for so long. The regulators said that Bitcoin was still too undeveloped for the E.T.F. to make sense. But the twins did win regulatory approval for their virtual currency exchange, Gemini.
Despite all the conflict, the price of Bitcoin rose steadily over 2017 as many investors speculated on its value as a digital alternative to gold. But security issues continued to dog Bitcoin exchanges and Bitcoin users, with one set of hackers using an attack that targeted the cell phones of some of the wealthiest Bitcoin holders. Bitcoin also continued to be a popular way to pay for drugs online, though authorities took another stab at stopping this when they shut down two of the largest dark net markets, AlphaBay and Hansa Market, in the summer of 2017.
Much of the action in the world of virtual currencies has moved beyond Bitcoin, as alternatives and competitors sprung up everywhere. None have been more succesful than Ethereum, the global computing and virtual currency system created by a former Bitcoin aficionado, Vitalik Buterin. In the course of 2017, Ethereum nearly eclipsed Bitcoin and won much more corporate interest than Bitcoin.
Entrepreneurs also created their own virtual currencies in order to raise money for startups, in so-called initial coin offerings. This became one of the biggest trends in Silicon Valley, as startups raised over $2 billion through these coin offerings. The frenzy eventually drew the scrutiny of regulators in the United States, China, Korea and Switzerland, among other places. After serving a term in prison, Charlie Shrem launched his own coin offering and also began working with other blockchain businesses.
Businesses continued to work on their own, less open systems using the blockchain technology. IBM has led the way in this work and won over clients like WalMart and Maersk to an open source blockchain project known as Hyperledger.
To follow Nathaniel's most recent work, visit his page on The New York Times or follow him on Twitter.