Each business, group, clique and conclave has its personal share of weirdos — cryptocurrency and blockchain aren’t any exception. 

Contemplating that cryptocurrency is the so-called “native” forex of the web — the repository of the sum of human data and the eccentricities there contained — the crypto sector is residence to maybe even weirder moments and personalities than extra established and conventional industries.

Outdoors of crypto’s inherently odd character, 2020 itself has formed as much as be a weird, if not downright horrible yr. Current socioeconomic issues in international locations across the globe have been exacerbated by the looks of the novel coronavirus and governments’ subsequent reactions to it. 

Bolivia and Kyrgyzstan underwent political upheaval, whereas the US presidential election sowed extra doubt concerning the nation’s future than certainty within the peaceable transition of energy. 

Kanye West’s vogue model received $5 million in coronavirus reduction for small companies. Hackers gatecrashed Zoom conferences. Tiger King turned a short obsession. A bunch of tone-deaf celebrities sang “Think about” and it was completely horrible. The checklist of the bizarre and the unhealthy goes on.

Crypto’s 2020 was no exception, with its personal fair proportion of eccentric billionaires, foul-ups, energy grabs and political posturing. So, as we are saying “sayonara” to 2020, let’s check out a number of of the weirdest moments in crypto this yr.

The crypto presidents 

This yr has been a giant one for cryptocurrency adoption. Main monetary corporations have gone in on Bitcoin (BTC), with sizeable allocations and investments by banks and mutual funds.

As crypto turns into an more and more mainstream monetary instrument, it has attracted the admiration and ire of these within the halls of energy. Proponents reached towards regulatory approval whereas suspicious politicians throughout the worldwide sought to clamp down on crypto.

It ought to come as no shock, then, that some within the crypto neighborhood tried to affect the regulatory discourse on cryptocurrencies. A choose few, nonetheless, sought to take action as President of the US of America.

American pc scientist and well-known eccentric John McAfee introduced his personal presidential run because the “crypto candidate” in 2018. Nonetheless, issues bought much more attention-grabbing as he took to operating his marketing campaign from overseas as he supposedly fled seize by U.S. authorities pursuing him on tax costs. Operations have been reportedly helped alongside by an eye-patched marketing campaign supervisor.

McAfee regularly acknowledged that he was solely operating for president to boost consciousness about cryptocurrency, and by no means anticipated to win.

In Might 2020, McAfee threw in the towel on his presidential bid, as a substitute operating for vice presidency, because the Libertarian Celebration through which he sought his nomination permits a vp candidate to run individually.

Brock Pierce, a former baby actor and crypto enterprise capitalist jumped into the presidential race comparatively late, in the summertime of 2020. 

A co-founder of Block.one, the group that created EOS, Pierce was featured on British comic John Oliver’s Final Week Tonight, the place Oliver drew consideration to the previous’s eccentric non secular tackle EOS and his unicorn-themed wedding on the legendary U.S. artwork pageant, Burning Man. 

Pierce’s technique and total marketing campaign picture was way more tempered than that of McAfee. Along with operating on a platform prioritizing the event of digital currencies, he additionally had clear insurance policies on a wide range of different related issues, together with legal justice reform, common earned earnings and healthcare. 

As we properly know, neither man gained. Pierce has largely gone radio silent after the marketing campaign’s conclusion, and McAfee is reportedly residing in a Spanish jail, so there will likely be no unicorn-themed events within the Rose Backyard, and nobody will likely be smoking bath salts within the Roosevelt Room. 

The drama at Bitmain

The main points of company management are sometimes unknown to the layman, as the key selections and conversations all happen behind closed doorways. One imagines Machiavellian takeovers and sycophants vying to get a rung up on the ladder, like in Billions or The Wolf of Wall Avenue.

The case of Bitmain, one of many largest producers of Bitcoin mining {hardware}, would seem to comply with this stereotype.

In a narrative that’s so dramatic it may have been written for TV, the once-friends and co-founders of the Bitcoin mining big have been locked in a bitter energy wrestle over the corporate, affecting its fundamental operations.

In October of final yr, Bitmain co-founder Micree Zhan was ousted from the corporate in an try and “save the ship” by the agency’s different co-founder, Jihan Wu. 

The battle reportedly began as a consequence of Zhan’s supposedly disproportionate management over the corporate. He allegedly owned twice as many shares within the agency as Wu, however the shares have been downgraded because the drama started to unfold.

In Might 2020, Bitmain issued statements confirming rumors that Zhan had been ousted from the corporate. Zhan subsequently sued Bitmain, and Wu ordered all staff to both sever contact with him or face punishment.

Armed guards reportedly appeared on the agency’s Beijing workplaces at Zhan’s behest in an effort to set up himself as a authorized consultant of the corporate. Whereas Wu condemned the takeover, Zhan seems to have achieved some success, as he forbade staff to finish shipments of mining rigs.

Bitmain maintained that Zhan had no proper to symbolize the corporate legally, however in June, he provided to purchase out the corporate for $4 billion in shares. He seems to have been profitable in altering the agency’s funds particulars to entities he controls, however {hardware} shipments nonetheless suffered and 10,000 mining rigs managed by the agency went “lacking” in Mongolia. 

The Bitmain management wrestle has but to conclude, so we might sit up for extra bizarre twists and turns in 2021.

The nice Twitter hack of 2020… 

July 15, 2020 is a day that can dwell on in infamy for social media big Twitter, because the accounts of well-known politicians, businesspeople and media figures have been hacked and used for a Bitcoin giveaway rip-off.

The pages of Elon Musk, Kanye West, President-Elect Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama, Warren Buffett and Invoice Gates have been all compromised and despatched out posts with one of many oldest crypto scams within the e-book.

Within the crypto giveaway rip-off, a supposedly magnanimous particular person claims to be sharing their wealth by way of Bitcoin. One solely must ship a small quantity to their listed tackle in order that they’ll confirm what your tackle is, and ship you a sum price excess of your preliminary switch.

Most individuals with a passing familiarity with crypto are conscious of this type of rip-off, however some which are new to the house, or don’t learn about crypto in any respect, apparently don’t suppose all of it bizarre that Barack Obama needs to provide them Bitcoin, and thus fall sufferer to the scheme.

Elon Musk’s hacked crypto account

Elon Musk’s hacked crypto account. Supply: Cointelegraph

Along with the aforementioned well-known faces, hackers additionally compromised the accounts of outstanding gamers within the crypto house, together with main exchanges Binance, Coinbase and Gemini, in addition to protocols like Tron.  

Whereas Twitter responded instantly by locking the affected blue-check accounts, the harm had already been completed. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey expressed his personal lamentations on the platform.

Rumors and hypothesis that the hack was an inside job have been quelled when Twitter launched a report on the incident, revealing that staff with broad administrative privileges had been victims of a spear-phishing assault.

Whereas doppelganger accounts of well-known people are sometimes created to execute scams, the Twitter hack this yr set a brand new precedent for the lengths scammers are prepared to go to on social media platforms.

The $1 million bounty that by no means was

By no means one to draw back from an excellent publicity stunt, Tron founder and BitTorrent CEO Justin Solar provided a $1 million greenback bounty to whoever may monitor down the events accountable for the Twitter hack. 

Nonetheless, when reporters tried to work with Tron in monitoring down the scammers, the corporate miraculously did not comply with by on its high-profile promise.

After a person approached a Cointelegraph reporter with extremely credible info relating to the potential hackers, Cointelegraph tried to place the person in contact with Tron in an effort to move on this information.

Tron, nonetheless, appeared completely disinterested in speaking to the supply, as a substitute insisting that the supply get Cointelegraph’s stamp of approval earlier than making its personal examination. In its correspondence with each Cointelegraph and the supply, it appeared like the corporate was attempting to get out of paying the bounty. One group chat went as follows:

“Supply: At any time when [you] are free, we may hop in a Zoom or Discord name and clarify all the pieces to you guys.

Tron consultant: No we are able to chat proper right here go forward.

Supply: It’s quite a bit, a lot simpler over a voice name.

Tron consultant: Not taking place.”

As a substitute, Tron arrange an e mail account for suggestions, whereas main papers reported deep dives into the hack 4 days after Cointelegraph and the supply had initially approached Tron. Tron later claimed that an FBI investigation into the incident was enough trigger to terminate the bounty.

Tron’s conduct did appear quite odd, given its proposed targets, along with being quite handy, because it didn’t must pay out the beneficiant sum. 

The Dickening

Value predictions abound within the crypto house. Consultants and analysts have predicted a Bitcoin bull run main the coin to $100,000 throughout this cycle, and maybe as excessive as $1 million by 2035. One Citibank analyst lately predicted a Bitcoin worth of over $300,000 in 2021.

Nonetheless, there may be one specific worth prediction that earns a spot on the weird-list this yr. John McAfee, whom we already know as affirmed eccentric throughout the crypto house, made a wager three years in the past that may very well be quite painful if he truly delivers.

In 2017, McAfee wager that Bitcoin would hit $500,000 by 2020, and if not, he would eat his personal genitalia on tv. Because the 2017 bull run gained steam, nonetheless, he upped his wager.

The occasion, which has develop into generally known as The Dickening and earned its personal countdown clock, is now lower than two weeks away.

So, all Bitcoin worth must do for McAfee to keep away from a impolite luncheon is to extend by nearly 5,000% within the subsequent a number of days. Maybe it’s an excellent factor his wager isn’t locked into a wise contract. 

The yr to return

As 2020 involves an in depth, one factor is evident: The cryptocurrency house is rising and adoption will proceed to extend all through 2021 and the years to return. Because the business thrives, the weirdos contained therein will possible proceed to shock and entertain each insiders and observers.