FTX, Luna and More: Top Cryptocurrency Moments of 2022

With simply hours till one other yr arrives and 2022 slips out of sight, there isn’t a higher alternative than now to have a look again at all the crypto’s noteworthy moments all through this previous yr.

10. “The Crocodile of Wall Avenue” will get arrested (February)

In February, the U.S. Justice Division unveiled its largest-ever seizure of monetary property after arresting two individuals who conspired to launder $5.1 billion in Bitcoin stolen throughout a 2016 hack of the Bitfinex foreign money trade. Ilya Lichtenstein and his spouse Heather Morgan have been apprehended by federal brokers in New York Metropolis. Morgan, who’s believed to have passed by the pseudonym “razzlekhan” on social media, promoted herself as an aspiring rapper, entrepreneur and Forbes contributor previous to her arrest. She referred to herself as “the notorious crocodile of Wall Avenue.”

9. Joe Biden’s govt order brings extra readability (March)

In March, U.S. President Joe Biden printed an govt order regarding authorities oversight of cryptocurrency. He talked about that this transfer is supposed to safe the nation’s monetary system from threats like illicit financing and likewise enhance equity, effectivity and inclusiveness. The EO was typically praised throughout the cryptocurrency group as a welcome step ahead.

8. Shiba Inu enters metaverse (April)

The Shiba Inu group launched a digital world which it dubbed SHIB: The Metaverse in April. It guarantees to offer land house owners a chance to generate passive revenue and generate numerous rewards. All year long, the meme coin additionally secured a number of metaverse-related partnerships.

7. The EU comes near banning Bitcoin (March) 

A proposed ban, if adopted, would successfully have prohibited the mining of recent Bitcoins by way of the proof-of-work (PoW) consensus within the EU.

Nonetheless, after additional deliberations, European regulators determined to scrap it as a part of a revision of the MiCA laws.

6. Ronin Community will get drained by North Korean hackers (March)

Ronin Community, which is tied to common blockchain gaming title Axie Infinity, had $615 million price of Ether and USDC tokens stolen in March.

Later, U.S. authorities decided that the notorious Lazarus Group, which is linked to the North Korean authorities, is liable for the record-breaking heist.

5. Ethereum’s Merge improve and Cardano’s Vasil arduous fork go reside (September)

The foremost improve, labeled the Merge, was finalized in September to a lot fanfare. The tip results of this improve shifted the favored blockchain from a proof-of-work system to a proof-of-stake system, thus eliminating the energy-consuming mining course of that was related to Ethereum earlier than.

In the identical month, Cardano launched its Vasil improve after dealing with delays and technical obstacles. It got here one yr after the Alonzo arduous fork.

4. Bitcoin plunges to contemporary two-year low (November)

On Nov. 21, Bitcoin prolonged its yearlong slide, plunging to a brand new yearly low of $15,479. The cryptocurrency was down greater than 77% from its latest peak, with the Federal Reserve’s hawkish coverage and a string of bankruptcies contributing to the sell-off.

3. Celsius goes underwater (July)

The cryptocurrency lending sector was shaken to its core when Celsius Community declared chapter, changing into the most recent sufferer of a large liquidity disaster. This got here after Celsius unexpectedly suspended withdrawals for its clients, inflicting a market sell-off.

2. Terra implodes, Do Kwon on the run (Might)

The cryptocurrency market noticed large losses in worth after Luna and sister stablecoin TerraUSD collapsed. TerraUSD misplaced its peg, undermining religion within the centralized stablecoin.

Amid all this, there was much more controversy as Interpol has posted a Purple Discover for Do Kwon, the founding father of Terraform Labs. Kwon’s location has since been unknown, however he’s rumored to be hiding in Serbia.

1. FTX information for chapter, SBF finally ends up behind bars (November)

Cryptocurrency trade FTX formally filed for Chapter 11 chapter safety after dropping practically $32 billion in worth in solely days. U.S. authorities additionally charged Sam Bankman-Fried with defrauding buyers. He was arrested within the Bahamas, extradited to the usand launched on a $250 million bail. The beautiful downfall of the wild-haired crypto mogul, which is akin to that of Enron’s Jeffrey Skilling and Theranos’s Elizabeth Holmes, is undoubtedly the largest crypto story of the yr. The FTX saga is already getting the Hollywood remedy, with streaming giants vying to safe rights.