Index
An investor stands in front of an electronic board showing stock information at a brokerage house in Fuyang, Anhui province, July 27, 2015. China stocks plunged more than 8 percent, their biggest one-day drop in more than eight years. REUTERS/Stringer

A hoax just caused ethereum to lose $7 billion in market value

$7 billion

A hoax spread online this weekend about ethereum’s inventor, caused the digital currency to lose some $7 billion in market value in about 36 hours.

Published   |  Photo by Reuters/Stringer
An investor stands in front of an electronic board showing stock information at a brokerage house in Fuyang, Anhui province, July 27, 2015. China stocks plunged more than 8 percent, their biggest one-day drop in more than eight years. REUTERS/Stringer
$7 billion

The hoax, posted anonymously on the message board 4Chan this weekend, claimed the creator of ethereum, Russian programmer Vitalik Buterin, had died in a car crash.

An investor stands in front of an electronic board showing stock information at a brokerage house in Fuyang, Anhui province, July 27, 2015. China stocks plunged more than 8 percent, their biggest one-day drop in more than eight years. REUTERS/Stringer
$7 billion

After the hoax started spreading, Buterin shared a portrait holding a piece of paper with recent code generated by the ethereum blockchain, to prove that he was alive.

An investor stands in front of an electronic board showing stock information at a brokerage house in Fuyang, Anhui province, July 27, 2015. China stocks plunged more than 8 percent, their biggest one-day drop in more than eight years. REUTERS/Stringer
$7 billion

An investor stands in front of an electronic board showing stock information at a brokerage house in Fuyang, Anhui province, July 27, 2015. China stocks plunged more than 8 percent, their biggest one-day drop in more than eight years. REUTERS/Stringer
$7 billion

This recent fall is closing a terrible month for ethereum, after a semester of impressive growth.

An investor stands in front of an electronic board showing stock information at a brokerage house in Fuyang, Anhui province, July 27, 2015. China stocks plunged more than 8 percent, their biggest one-day drop in more than eight years. REUTERS/Stringer
$7 billion

Ethereum’s market value went from $20 billion in early June to almost $38 billion on June 12, then down to about $24 billion on June 26.

An investor stands in front of an electronic board showing stock information at a brokerage house in Fuyang, Anhui province, July 27, 2015. China stocks plunged more than 8 percent, their biggest one-day drop in more than eight years. REUTERS/Stringer
$7 billion

Ethereum’s market value

Published

Check out more stories below—and please take a quick three-minute survey to help us improve.

Share this story

home our picks popular latest obsessions search