Timeline of the Decline
February 2021
$957.00
All-Time High - Peak euphoria
August 2022
$30.00
US Treasury sanctions announced
August 8, 2022
$6.00
OFAC sanctions, developer arrested
Current
$10.00
Post-collapse trading
What Went Wrong
-
US Treasury Sanctions
OFAC sanctioned Tornado Cash smart contracts, making it illegal for US persons to interact with the protocol.
-
Developer Arrest
Alexey Pertsev was arrested in the Netherlands, setting a chilling precedent for privacy protocol developers.
-
Infrastructure Blacklisting
Circle froze USDC, GitHub deleted the repo, and RPC providers blocked access, destroying the ecosystem.