2020 has been a monumental year for Bitcoin, with the number of users, applications and transactions hitting new records. Here at CoinGeek, we have been ensuring that we bring you the most important developments in Bitcoin throughout the year. From the piece on how Bitcoin SV has won the war on Bitcoin, to Craig Wright’s legal victory over detractors, here are CoinGeek’s top 10 most read Bitcoin stories of 2020:
1. The War on Bitcoin
The years’ most read, shared and talked about piece was ‘The War on Bitcoin.’ In the article, Kurt Wuckert Jr. broke down in detail how Satoshi Nakamoto’s vision of Visa-level transaction capability has been derailed by small blockers for their own selfish gain. He also gave a brief history of Bitcoin, including the 2017 BCH hard fork and the subsequent 2018 Bitcoin SV split that restored Satoshi’s vision for Bitcoin. The CoinGeek chief historian talked extensively about Dr. Craig Wright and why small blockers have continued to wage unceasing war against him. These attacks have spilled over to Calvin Ayre, founder of Ayre Group and CoinGeek, in line with Satoshi’s original vision.
2. China’s Blockchain Service Network rollout
The year’s second-most popular article on CoinGeek was about the rollout of China’s Blockchain Service Network (BSN). Unveiled in April, BSN was hailed as China’s biggest move yet in global blockchain domination. The Chinese government brought on telecom, tech and financial giants in the development of the network. BSN’s developers described it as an “internet of blockchains,” claiming it would allow developers to use various blockchains to build their products. BSN would purportedly bring down the cost of building a blockchain application by 97%.
3. The arrest of Morris Coin founder in India
The arrest of the founder of the Morris Coin digital currency in October was the third-most read piece in 2020. Known only as Nishad, the mysterious 36-year-old was accused of defrauding thousands of investors across India and beyond. Nishad promised a 270 rupees ($3.7) guaranteed daily return for a $203 investment for 300 days, authorities said. After the 300 days, investors could exchange their Morris Coin tokens for fiat. There were extra rewards for bringing other investors onboard.
4. How BSV-based Buskon is reviving South Korea’s jazz scene
In South Korea, K-Pop tops most charts, being the country’s most popular music genre. However, Koreans can now explore smooth jazz music through Buskon, powered by Bitcoin SV. The article exploring the Korean jazz scene and how BSV is transforming it was the year’s fourth-most popular piece. Buskon, built on the BSV blockchain by Korea’s ONE Store, allows artists to connect with broader audiences, which is critical in a country where jazz clubs are few and scattered. Users can tip their favorite jazz artists as BSV facilitates micropayments with its very low fees and instant transactions.
5. CambrianSV debate: Do VCs have a role in Bitcoin?
CambrianSV has become a big part of the Bitcoin ecosystem, allowing developers to connect and work together to solve problems with Bitcoin SV. And while it’s mostly known as a developers’ event, a debate between Twetch CFO Aaron Burns and Unbounded Capital’s Jackson Laskey was one of the highlights in Lisbon, Portugal, in February 2020.
While Laskey labored to convince the audience that there’s a new crop of venture capitalists that can help the Bitcoin industry grow, Burns dismissed the argument, describing VCs as wolves in sheep’s clothing. CoinGeek’s Charles Miller oversaw the debate that shed a light into the future of financing for Bitcoin startups.
6. Bitcoin’s place in the corporate world
In sixth place on this year’s most read articles was yet another production by Charles Miller. This time, it was his podcast with veteran programmer and business strategy consultant Daniel Diemers. Diemers narrated to the audience why it’s critical for Bitcoin SV to market itself to the corporate world before others like Hyperledger take over.
The BSV community has been focusing on building on Bitcoin, and it has now shown what’s possible with Bitcoin. It’s time to take it to the next level and seek out big business, Diemers stated. He lauded nChain, which he believes will play a big role in attracting enterprise users.
7. Back My Business Dream video series
The Bitcoin SV ecosystem has seen an explosion of developers, all building innovative products to solve a particular challenge. Some of these companies got to pitch to a room full of investors at the Pitch Day London earlier this year. Charles Miller’s in-depth look at three companies which pitched their ideas and their journey to the top was one of this year’s most popular pieces.
Miller focused on universal basic income app Mannabase, film ecosystem MyMovie and Instagram-like social media app Memento (now Relica). He told the story of their journeys and the hardships they had to overcome, their pitch in London and what they foresaw as the future of their venture. For developers, this was a critical documentary as it also showed them what investors are looking for from Bitcoin startups.
8. CambrianSV, again
The CambrianSV bootcamp in Lisbon earlier this year was one of this year’s most talked about events in the Bitcoin space. Organized by RelayX founder Jack Liu, it brought together some of the leading Bitcoin developers for a five-day collaboration event, allowing them to learn from each other to improve their applications.
Charles Miller’s summary of the event was one of the most read articles of the year. In it, he revealed what went on behind the scenes, what the developers had learned, some of the projects that had successfully integrated their products together and why the bootcamp is a must-attend for aspiring developers.
9. Ripple CEO and co-founder are XRP doubters
While Bitcoin SV has thrived in 2020, many other projects have been exposed. One of these has been XRP, a digital currency that its founders claimed would transform cross-border remittances. As Patrick Thompson wrote in a May article, even the co-founder and CEO don’t believe in their own project.
Jed McCaleb, better known for his Stellar project, was a Ripple founder, exiting in 2013. He, however, continues to receive millions of dollars’ worth of XRP, all of which he has been disposing on a daily basis. The Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has also not attempted to hide that the company dumps XRP in the market in order to stay profitable.
10. Craig Wright statement about moving Satoshi coins
Articles on Dr. Craig Wright always draw a huge audience. His statement on moving Satoshi coins was the most popular piece this year. In it, Satoshi laid it out that he had not moved the coins, reiterating that he has no intention of dumping BTC. Dr. Wright clarified that the list of Bitcoin addresses from an August 2019 filing was not a representation of his Bitcoin holdings as the media has reported.
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