What were the most striking fake news published in 2018 related to the crypto sector?
1) The fake news of Bitcoin’s death
For sure, those published every year dozens and dozens of times, in which Bitcoin has been given for dead.
More than 90 Bitcoin “death announcements”, or one every about four days, have been published this year, as recorded by Bitcoin Obituaries.
It wasn’t the absolute record, because in 2017 there were 125 of them. It’s curious how this record was recorded in the year of the price boom and not in the year of the collapse.
Among the fake crypto news listed on Bitcoin Obituaries there’s also the one on the unstoppable decline of Bitcoin, the prediction that its value will go to zero, the definition of Bitcoin as a pyramid scheme, the one on the obsolescence of its technology and even the one that predicted the end of the cryptocurrency in 2018.
2) No, Elon Musk is not Satoshi Nakamoto
Another fake news that sometimes returns is that of the direct involvement of Elon Musk in the crypto world, by some even referred to as the real Satoshi Nakamoto. This fake news was published in 2018, but it’s not the first time that it happens.
3) Goldman Sachs leaves the crypto sector
One fake news that has had a certain resonance was the one regarding the alleged exit of Goldman Sachs from the sector, promptly denied by those directly concerned.
In fact, the company is working on a cryptocurrency trading desk for its customers and has made it known that the work is progressing, even if it has not yet produced concrete results.
4) Forecasts on the price of bitcoin
There were also many fake forecasts about the value that bitcoin would have at the end of the year. Many had assumed a value of more than $20,000, or even $50,000. On the other hand, there were also those that said it would go below $1,500, or even below $800.
However, since these were probabilistic future forecasts, it is quite obvious that many of them turned out to be incorrect.
Rather persistent, also because of the drop in value, were the numerous reports that the Bitcoin bubble was bursting and the price would go down to zero, but many of these are included in the Bitcoin Obituaries.
5) Wikipedia did not launch an ICO
The news of the possible Wikipedia ICO, denied directly by the founder Jimmy Wales, has also proved to be false.
6) Italian fakes
In Italy, numerous fake news have been published on alleged investments by famous people in programs that promised profits insured with investments in cryptocurrencies: Sergio Marchionne, Claudio Lippi, Marco Baldini, Enrico Lucci and many others. They are all practically the same and often sponsor real scams.
7) Petro
The last news that is worth mentioning is the launch of the Venezuelan Petro. It is not really fake news, but the problem is that no one has seen the Petro tokens yet.
In fact, although there is a website to explore the blockchain, it actually isn’t public, so much so that there is also the suspicion that it is only a giant fake by the Venezuelan government in order to raise money. The news is true, but, to date, the cryptocurrency does not exist.