The year 2020 in readers’ eyes: ForkLog’s most popular articles

Robert Kiyosaki predicted the death of the US economy and Bitcoin to $75,000

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A confident bullish forecast for the leading cryptocurrency—precisely what the community needed in May. Entrepreneur Robert Kiyosaki spent the year urging people to buy gold, Bitcoin and silver, earning both praise and criticism. Whether the forecast will come true remains to be seen, but it was the year’s most popular material.

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142k

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Bitcoins that may belong to Satoshi Nakamoto moved

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The frenzy among readers was sparked by the transfer of 50 BTC that had not moved for 11 years. Some suggested the coins belonged to Bitcoin’s creator Satoshi Nakamoto, but blockchain analysts debunked that theory.

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115k

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A $1.3 billion Bitcoin transaction

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In the night of June 11, an unknown user moved 132,255 BTC in just two minutes.

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100k

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Mining data centre found at Ukrainian oligarch Kolomoyskyi’s steel mill

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At CC Metals & Alloys (Kentucky, USA), owned by Ukrainian billionaire Ihor Kolomoyskyi and his business partners, a data centre for cryptocurrency mining was set up. The mining is conducted by an unnamed third party.

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85k

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The third Bitcoin halving took place

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On May 11, at block #630000, the third halving in history occurred. The block, rewarded with 6.25 BTC, was mined at 19:23 GMT (22:23 MSK) by AntPool.

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56k

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Vitalik Buterin revealed the price at which he sold his Ethereum holdings

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Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin sold his ETH holdings when the price was around $700.

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53k

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Bitcoin miner found a forgotten multi-million-dollar fortune

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In March, an anonymous miner found a wallet with Bitcoins mined as far back as 2010. At the time, the haul was worth around $8 million. The next day, 1,000 BTC moved—unmoved since August–October 2010—entered circulation. This happened just before the market crash, but whether these coins are linked to the anonymous miner remains unconfirmed.

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51k

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Bitcoin price drop and market panic in real time: opinions, assessments, and forecasts

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That very nightmare night and day. We worked almost nonstop for about a day covering the market crash.

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In the night of Friday, March 13, Bitcoin price briefly dropped to $3,800, losing more than 50% of its value in a single day. Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, fell below $100 for the first time since December 2018.

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51k

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69,370 BTC moved on one of the wealthiest wallets. Hackers had been hacking it for years

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In November, an unknown moved 69,370 BTC from a wallet that hackers had been attempting to breach for years. At the time, the recipient address was considered the fourth-largest Bitcoin holder in the world.

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Subsequently, it emerged that the U.S. Department of Justice had seized these coins from the hacker who hacked the Silk Road darknet marketplace in May 2012.

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51k

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M opinion: A $5 trillion cushion is set to enter the Bitcoin market

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And again a forecast, this time from macro-investor Dan Tapiero. Investors could allocate part of a $4.6 trillion cash cushion to buying Bitcoin, he said in June.

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33k

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What is DeFi?

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The educational function remains one of ForkLog’s important missions. We continually update the “Cards” section, which explains terminology and the principles of how the crypto market operates in plain language.

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48k

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The global economic crisis is at the doorstep. Explaining the risks it poses for Bitcoin and miners

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In March the global crisis topic became one of the most discussed in the world. We detailed the long-term consequences of quantitative easing for markets and the economy.

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40k

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What is Ethereum 2.0?

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Many did not believe Ethereum developers would miss yet another deadline, but the initial phase of Ethereum 2.0 was launched on December 1, 2020. This card explained Vitalik Buterin’s ambitious goal to move the network to a different consensus algorithm.

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37k

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NPO began Bitcoin payouts to Belarusian workers and contemplated creating a parallel crypto-economy

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We also covered the political instability in Belarus. In September we reported on the Belarusian Solidarity Fund’s initiative to pay compensation in Bitcoin to Belarusians who were laid off for civic activity and participation in protests against President Alexander Lukashenko.

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39k

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Bitsonar exit scam: how a former Ukrainian official built a pyramid, presenting it as an investment fund

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The most popular investigation of 2020 was the Bitsonar exit-scam piece. More than 23,000 views of the exposé of the former Ukrainian official Oleksandr Tovstenko, who built a pyramid, deceiving not only fund clients but also his own employees and consultants.

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The story developed when Tovstenko, according to the SBU, ordered the killing of ForkLog’s informant Yaroslav Stadchenko. Tovstenko is now under house arrest.

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23k

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How DeFi service Compound caught up with and surpassed rivals

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It is believed that the launch of the native token COMP sparked the yield-farming craze. This article explained the reasons for the project’s appeal.

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19k

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HODL: hold Bitcoin and earn

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In 2013, a Bitcointalk thread appeared under the name I AM HODLING. In it, trader GameKyuubi explained why he did not sell his Bitcoins at the peak. The heading contained a typo: \u201cI AM HODLING\u201d.

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The word hodl has become synonymous with the buy-and-hold strategy. In the crypto community, hodlers are long-term investors, and the investing itself is called hodling.

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In this article we explained why HODL can be profitable and how to profit from it.

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17k

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Ukraine will legalize Bitcoin: what the bill “On Virtual Assets” will change for cryptocurrency holders

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In 2020 Ukraine actively worked on regulating the crypto market and approved in the first reading the draft law \u201cOn Virtual Assets\u201d. We interviewed the authors of the document.

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16k

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Bitcoin options hit records, and exchanges compete for this segment. Explaining what these instruments are and how they work

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This year saw a real boom in Bitcoin options—extremely complex derivatives. We also explained how they work.

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15k

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Creator of Bitcoin-NG called mining a terrible idea and accused Bitcoin Core of distorting the truth

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In an exclusive ForkLog interview, Bitcoin veteran and Cornell University professor Emin Gün Sirer spoke about perceived dishonesty among Bitcoin Core developers and the problems of mining in PoW systems. He also shared his vision for the industry’s near future and explained how he came to his new project AVA as a result of fierce battles over block size.

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14k

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