In 2024 ForkLog, as ever, covered the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry\u2019s most significant news and events with speed. The fact you read us is the best proof\u2014and the reward we value most.<\/p>\n
But beyond the torrent of breaking-news flashes, we tried not to neglect the perennial themes\u2014always relevant, meaning-shaping, and useful for navigating a changing market. That is what our long-reads desk is for, producing substantial pieces: features, reviews and interviews, some of which we suggest revisiting today.<\/p>\n
We have split this roundup into two equal parts. The first contains 10 of 2024\u2019s most popular long reads; the second, the ForkLog editors\u2019 personal standouts.<\/p>\n
A whole planet left without electricity is the most frightening apocalypse scenario for modern humans. It is entirely plausible\u2014for example, under extreme solar activity. Bitcoin seems the ideal currency amid a global financial-system collapse. But can it survive without a stable power grid? We explain why the answer is more likely yes than no.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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Whatever one thinks of fully anonymous transactions, from a technical standpoint privacy coins are among the cypherpunk community\u2019s greatest achievements. We checked in on the state of Monero, Zcash and Dash\u2014the first to implement assets fully shielded from prying eyes. (Spoiler: they\u2019re very much alive, and some have even spawned their own DAOs.)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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Everyone knows Warren Buffett\u2019s oft-quoted wisdom: \u201cBuy when others are fearful, and sell when others are greedy.\u201d Such maxims usually teach beginners only that nobody will actually teach you the trade. Yet when we tested the billionaire\u2019s credo against bitcoin\u2019s historical charts, we were surprised to find: it really does work.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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In 2024 not only did bitcoin\u2019s dollar price set new records; mining difficulty did too. We assessed the mining industry\u2019s health, the challenges it faces now and what to expect in 2025. Altcoin prospects received special attention.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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To answer the question on everyone\u2019s mind, we looked not only at blockchain-analytics reports but also at traditional tools\u2014economic cycles. It turns out bitcoin now behaves like the classic market, and models, some over a century old, are enough to forecast its price. We will see soon enough how well this holds.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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The IMF projects that by 2030 US public debt will top $100 trillion. In search of solutions, financiers turned to crypto\u2014and found a viable scenario using tokenisation of real-world assets (RWA). We explore what rescuing a superpower from default via today\u2019s crypto tools might look like.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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Many analysts assumed an altcoin bull run would follow shortly after bitcoin\u2019s halving. Vague as the notion of \u201calt season\u201d is, in 2024 it objectively did not arrive. Our analysis suggests optimistic forecasts for bitcoin\u2019s rivals are unlikely to come true any time soon. Blame the memecoins.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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Anyone who follows crypto news sees such \u201csensational\u201d headlines almost daily. What really lies behind them, who benefits from stoking panic, and what role do the slick, menacing charts drawn by the \u201cexpert community\u201d play? We explain why on-chain analytics, for all its persuasive gloss, often means absolutely nothing.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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In 2024 the market was refreshed by an influx of newcomers\u2014people newly serious about digital currencies as crypto winter thawed. For those who immediately opted for bitcoin maximalism, we prepared a guide to wallets designed solely for storing digital gold. Some you can even assemble yourself.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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Our most-read long read of 2024\u2014the undisputed traffic champion. Together with experts, we tackled awkward questions about the media bomb called Hamster Kombat. By year\u2019s end we were satisfied to find we were right about most things linked to the clicker frenzy that made millions of adults from Tokyo to Buenos Aires \u201ctap the hamster\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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One of 2024\u2019s surprise trends was prediction markets. Dreamed up in 1988 by academics for applied research, they were reborn as blockchain totes with multimillion turnovers. America\u2019s presidential race helped. We explain what prediction markets were \u201cthen\u201d and what they are \u201cnow\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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Don\u2019t ask how we arrived at the idea of leaving a four-legged tormentor all we\u2019ve earned. It just seemed that modern Web3 tools\u2014RWA and specialised protocols\u2014could help enforce your last will. And also make sure the heir doesn\u2019t blow your crypto wealth on a blockchain feeder, an NFT bed and the latest promising cat-coin.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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A wide-ranging review of how Web3 analogues of streaming services work. Many of these projects are not merely \u201cSpotify on-chain\u201d but full-fledged DAOs with their own tokens. We explore genuinely modern, horizontal interactions between musicians and audiences\u2014without producers, corporations and platforms that seize every chance to deprive artists of royalties.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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The digital world offers not only life-easing technologies but more censorship\u2014the sworn enemy of cypherpunks and crypto-enthusiasts. The Tornado Cash case, the arrest of Pavel Durov in Paris, backdoors letting supposedly decentralised platforms freeze clients\u2019 funds\u2014these are just the tip of a massive iceberg of repression in Web3. We analyse how early crypto-utopias turned into their opposite.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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In February 2024 Nigerian police detained Binance\u2019s vice-president for global intelligence and investigations, Tigran Gambaryan, accusing him of money laundering and tax evasion. He is now free, but this piece will remain relevant: it speaks not only to one legal case but to a broader systemic problem for the crypto community.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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A programmatic article by Web3 researcher Vladimir Menaskop, based on an analysis of more than 50 cross-chain projects. It thoroughly dissects and synthesises their economics, technical architectures and in-segment competition. A methodology for independent study is included.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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A substantial overview of Web3 initiatives that help animals\u2014both wild and domestic. From a Bolivian sanctuary for red-listed species and charitable NFT collections to entire metaverses that let you care for real creatures in distress. Most projects are altruistic at heart, but some also let you earn a little on the side.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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One of the most delightfully mad (in a good way) features in ForkLog\u2019s history. Cyber-Buddhism is not a postmodern parody but a genuine and fairly widespread spiritual practice. With scholar of Buddhist traditions Mikhail Matrekhin we learned how to pray in a datsan built in Minecraft, why chatting with a bot can nudge you toward enlightenment, and why communing with avatars of wrathful deities may beat office stand-ups.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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