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2015Rebuilding after Mt. Gox

Prices fell close to $200 in January and then traded in a quiet range. Beneath the calm, the technical community opened the block-size debate that would divide Bitcoin for years, while Ethereum went live and regulators tightened the rules.

Year-end price (approx.)

~$430

Block reward

25 BTC

Early-year low

~$200

What happened

1. Jan

   Bitcoin falls close to $200, its lowest level in about two years, and the Bitstamp exchange loses around 19,000 BTC in a hack.

2. May 29

   Ross Ulbricht is sentenced to life in prison for operating Silk Road.

3. Jun 3

   New York finalises its BitLicense, the first comprehensive US state licensing regime for virtual-currency businesses.

4. Jul 30

   The Ethereum network launches.

5. Aug

   The Bitcoin XT proposal intensifies the debate over raising the block-size limit.

6. Oct 31

   The Economist runs a cover story calling the blockchain a “trust machine.”

Why it mattered

The scaling debate of 2015 shaped the next several years: SegWit, the 2017 forks and the push for off-chain solutions such as the Lightning Network.

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