“Black Swans” and sanctions: ForkLog’s most popular materials in 2022

Unknown Bitcoin miner mined a block — the probability of such an event was less than 0.0001%

A lone miner with a 126 TH/s hardware setup mined a block in the Bitcoin blockchain, earning the protocol’s reward of 6.25 BTC.

The probability of success at the then-relevant network hash rate was below 0.0001%.

Third solo miner mined a Bitcoin block

In January, the solo miner’s feat was repeated at least twice more. This is highly unusual for the industry, as reflected in our readers’ interest in such events.

An Indian anti-Covid fund returned part of Vitalik Buterin’s donations

The India-focused Crypto Relief fund returned part of the funds he donated to the organisation. The parties decided that the Ethereum co‑founder could act more swiftly, as he is not bound by local law.

Mike Novogratz challenged Peter Schiff to a $1 million bet on the price of Bitcoin

As the price of the flagship cryptocurrency fell amid the hawkish stance of the Fed, participants debated where quotes would head.

For example, Mike Novogratz offered the Bitcoin sceptic Peter Schiff a $1 million wager. Under his terms, the Galaxy Digital founder would donate the money to charity or another cause chosen by the opponent if, one year from signing the agreement, the asset trades below $35,000.

Russia’s Finance Ministry suspected of crafting Bitcoin-market regulation for a specific player

The Russian crypto community was actively discussing the ministry’s regulatory concept.

ForkLog’s experts at the time noted that the ministry’s concept is a positive sign for Bitcoin holders, but the proposed measures contradict the nature of digital assets and were likely designed for a particular player.

The largest Ethereum mining pool halted servicing clients from Russia and Belarus

Many industry participants promptly announced their intention to comply with sanctions. Among them was the Ethermine mining-pool operator — Bitfly — which stopped servicing clients from Russia and Belarus.

The decision was explained as an effort to align with anti‑money‑laundering laws on financial markets.

MetaMask and OpenSea announced readiness to block users from sanction jurisdictions

Developers of the non‑custodial wallet MetaMask and the NFT marketplace OpenSea also announced readiness to block users from sanctioned jurisdictions.

Bill Miller called the collapse of the Russian ruble a “bullish signal” for Bitcoin

Experts debated the consequences of sanctions for the Russian economy and their impact on the digital assets market. For example, Bill Miller, founder of Miller Value Partners, stated that the collapse of the ruble is a “bullish signal” for Bitcoin.

EU fully banned providing cryptocurrency services to Russians

Subsequently sanctions against Russia were broadened. Russians were forbidden from owning cryptocurrency wallets within the eurozone. Citizens and residents of Russia lost the ability to create accounts or hold digital assets in the EU, regardless of deposit size.

Critical situation: Russians were advised to withdraw cryptocurrencies from European platforms

The ForkLog experts interviewed at the time stated that the measures would be quite harsh for Russian users. The reason is straightforward — all eurozone‑registered providers of services related to virtual assets fell under the new sanctions.

Binance CEO commented on possible restrictions for Russians

Against the backdrop of tightening measures, Binance chief executive Changpeng Zhao commented on the war. He stated that Russia’s invasion has created a “difficult situation” for the company, and that licensed Binance entities in Europe would certainly not be able to serve Russian citizens, though there was no definitive decision yet for other jurisdictions.

Binance launched the payments company Bifinity

Meanwhile, despite the global crisis and the war, international companies continued to develop business. In particular, the cryptocurrency exchange Binance launched the payments firm Bifinity, positioned as an official provider of payments in fiat and digital currencies.

Changpeng Zhao disclosed Binance’s losses from Terra investments

Many major companies lost money due to the collapse of assets in the ecosystem. In particular, Zhao stated that in 2018 Binance bought 15 million LUNA — at its peak valued at $1.6 billion. After the collapse the assets were virtually worthless.

CEO of Terraform announced a plan to save UST. LUNA price fell below $1

In an attempt to salvage the project, Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon presented a plan to restore the price of the algorithmic stablecoin UST. The plan involved accelerating the pace of LUNA issuance.

Developers of Ethereum agreed on a schedule for the transition to PoS. The cryptocurrency rose 12%

After developers agreed on the activation date for the upgrade, crypto prices rose by 12%. The transition to PoS was tentatively planned for 19 September.

The Merge activated on the Ethereum network. The blockchain moved to PoS

Ultimately The Merge was activated on 15 September. The implementation went smoothly, though not without issues — some validators dropped from the network. That, however, was not enough to derail the system.

Binance will distribute PoW forked Ethereum tokens to users

Even before the upgrade, some opponents of The Merge announced their intention to move to the PoW fork. The project was launched and, although it did not take off, it drew support from several major centralised platforms, including Binance.

FTX Group filed for bankruptcy. Sam Bankman-Fried resigned

On 11 November, FTX Group — comprising about 130 companies, including Alameda Research — filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Code. Bankman-Fried resigned as CEO of the crypto exchange.

Nansen reconstructed the timeline and found the root cause of the FTX collapse

Analysts debated the reasons for FTX’s collapse. In particular, Nansen researchers stated that the core problem was the high concentration of the exchange’s utility tokens — FTT — in the hands of Alameda Research.

The latter controlled around 86% of the asset’s initial issuance.

Bahamian authorities arrest FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried

On 13 December, Bahamian authorities arrested Bankman-Fried at the request of the U.S. government. The U.S. Department of Justice filed eight charges. Separate suits were filed by the SEC and the CFTC. Bankman-Fried was subsequently extradited to the United States.

Caroline Ellison admitted to conscious deception of Alameda creditors

Former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang pleaded guilty to charges related to the downfall of Bankman-Fried’s business empire, and agreed to cooperate with investigators.

Russia without the Internet. How to circumvent censorship and blocks

In February, Roskomnadzor ordered media to remove materials that described events in Ukraine as a war, and on 1 March blocked the Dozhd TV channel and Ekho Moskvy radio station websites.

We explained how to access blocked resources and stay connected with loved ones even after a total internet shutdown.

Life Without SWIFT: what problems will Russians face as individuals and as businesses

Disconnection of Russian banks from the global financial messaging system has long been viewed as an extreme measure. We explained what this could mean for citizens and companies.

Back to the 1990s. What is happening to Russia’s economy as a result of sanctions and war

As noted above, sanctions against the Russian Federation are indeed unprecedented. ForkLog examined what consequences for Russia’s economy have already occurred, and what might still follow.

Beginner’s Guide: How to cash out cryptocurrency in Turkey

War has driven many Russians from their homeland. One of the main transfer hubs for those fleeing Russia and Belarus became Istanbul. We explained how to cash out cryptocurrency in Turkey.

Step-by-step guide: how to buy cryptocurrency and how to store it in a MetaMask wallet

Crypto popularity continues to rise. Today, anyone can easily and legally purchase digital assets. We published a step-by-step guide to help readers buy cryptocurrency and store it in MetaMask.

Neural network image generation: five free services

We highlighted where you can generate images with a neural network, how the services differ, and the terms of use.

The shift to Ethereum PoS: everything you need to know

On the eve of The Merge activation we explained why the community awaited the update and what impact it might have on the Ethereum ecosystem.

What is STEPN and the GMT cryptocurrency?

Stepn is one of the first representatives of the Move-to-Earn segment. The app enjoyed enormous popularity, but ultimately faced problems due to controversial tokenomics and team actions.

How to claim the Terra 2.0 airdrop (LUNA)?

After the Terra ecosystem collapse, the project developers decided to restart the blockchain and announced an airdrop for holders of tokens from the old ecosystem. We told readers how to participate in the event.

How the Federal Reserve rate affects cryptocurrency prices

The year 2022 once again demonstrated that the Fed’s policy directly influences the crypto market. We explained why digital asset prices react to changes in the regulator’s base rate.

What is cryptocurrency arbitrage?

Arbitrage operations are a common phenomenon in the crypto market. Their aim is to profit from price discrepancies across platforms. We dissected the process in the educational cards.

What is a VPN?

Tightening censorship is one of the primary threats to personal freedom. One of the tools to combat it are VPN services. We explained to readers how the underlying technology works.

What is a cryptocurrency airdrop?

Crypto projects often distribute “free” tokens to users in events known as airdrops. We described this marketing tactic.

What is a DAO (decentralised autonomous organisation)?

The model of a decentralised autonomous organisation has become one of the concepts that have gained broad support in the crypto community in recent years. We explain what it is.