{
  "schema_version": "1.0",
  "title": "Exchange infrastructure, failure, and regulation",
  "description": "Selected primary records show the transition from early spot markets to custodial institutions, derivatives venues, public companies, and regional rulebooks.",
  "type": "timeline",
  "items": [
    {
      "date": "2010-01-15",
      "label": "Bitcoin Market proposed",
      "detail": "A public forum post described work on an organized market for buying and selling bitcoin.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "exchanges-bitcoin-market"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2010-07-18",
      "label": "Mt. Gox announced",
      "detail": "A new continuously available exchange entered the early market.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "exchanges-mtgox-launch"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2011-08-22",
      "label": "Bitstamp begins",
      "detail": "A long-running European fiat gateway dates its start to this day.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "exchanges-bitstamp-history"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2012-10-26",
      "label": "Coinbase adds bank-linked trades",
      "detail": "Eligible U.S. users could buy and sell bitcoin through connected bank accounts.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "exchanges-coinbase-bank"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2013-03-18",
      "label": "FinCEN guidance",
      "detail": "The U.S. AML framework distinguished users from administrators and exchangers.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "exchanges-fincen-guidance"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2014-02-28",
      "label": "Mt. Gox seeks rehabilitation",
      "detail": "The company entered a court-supervised process after reporting major shortfalls.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "exchanges-mtgox-filing"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2015-09-17",
      "label": "CFTC Coinflip order",
      "detail": "The regulator held that bitcoin and other virtual currencies are commodities under the CEA.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "exchanges-cftc-coinflip"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2016-08-02",
      "label": "Bitfinex breach",
      "detail": "Trading and withdrawals stopped after a bitcoin-wallet security breach.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "exchanges-bitfinex-breach"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2017-07-26",
      "label": "BTC-e enforcement",
      "detail": "U.S. authorities announced charges and disruption of the offshore venue.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "exchanges-btce-case"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2020-06-11",
      "label": "Quadriga report",
      "detail": "OSC staff published a detailed reconstruction concluding that fraud caused the platform’s collapse.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "exchanges-quadriga-report"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2021-04-14",
      "label": "Coinbase direct listing",
      "detail": "A major exchange’s shares began public trading in the United States.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "exchanges-coinbase-listing"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2022-02-08",
      "label": "Bitfinex-linked seizure",
      "detail": "The Justice Department announced the recovery of more than 94,000 BTC linked to the 2016 theft.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "exchanges-bitfinex-seizure"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2022-11-11",
      "label": "FTX Chapter 11",
      "detail": "FTX group entities commenced U.S. bankruptcy proceedings.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "exchanges-ftx-docket"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2023-11-21",
      "label": "Binance guilty plea",
      "detail": "The company entered a $4.3 billion U.S. criminal and regulatory resolution.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "exchanges-binance-case"
      ]
    },
    {
      "date": "2024-12-30",
      "label": "EU MiCA CASP regime",
      "detail": "The main service-provider framework became generally applicable under Article 149, subject to transition arrangements.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "exchanges-mica-regulation",
        "exchanges-esma-mica"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "source_ids": [
    "exchanges-bitcoin-market",
    "exchanges-mtgox-launch",
    "exchanges-bitstamp-history",
    "exchanges-coinbase-bank",
    "exchanges-fincen-guidance",
    "exchanges-mtgox-filing",
    "exchanges-cftc-coinflip",
    "exchanges-bitfinex-breach",
    "exchanges-btce-case",
    "exchanges-quadriga-report",
    "exchanges-coinbase-listing",
    "exchanges-bitfinex-seizure",
    "exchanges-ftx-docket",
    "exchanges-binance-case",
    "exchanges-mica-regulation",
    "exchanges-esma-mica"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "exchanges-bitcoin-market",
      "title": "Bitcoin Market announcement",
      "publisher": "BitcoinTalk",
      "type": "primary contemporaneous forum record",
      "url": "https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=20.0",
      "supports": "A participant announced work on an organized bitcoin market on 15 January 2010."
    },
    {
      "id": "exchanges-mtgox-launch",
      "title": "Mt. Gox launch announcement",
      "publisher": "BitcoinTalk",
      "type": "primary contemporaneous forum record",
      "url": "https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=444.0",
      "supports": "The operator announced the new exchange on 18 July 2010 and described continuous availability."
    },
    {
      "id": "exchanges-bitstamp-history",
      "title": "Bitstamp fifth anniversary",
      "publisher": "Bitstamp",
      "type": "primary company history",
      "url": "https://blog.bitstamp.net/post/bitstamps-fifth-anniversary/",
      "supports": "Bitstamp dates its beginning to 22 August 2011."
    },
    {
      "id": "exchanges-coinbase-bank",
      "title": "Bank-account buying and selling",
      "publisher": "Coinbase",
      "type": "primary company announcement",
      "url": "https://www.coinbase.com/blog/you-can-now-buy-and-sell-bitcoin-by-connecting-any-u-s-bank-account",
      "supports": "Coinbase announced bank-connected buying and selling on 26 October 2012."
    },
    {
      "id": "exchanges-fincen-guidance",
      "title": "FIN-2013-G001",
      "publisher": "Financial Crimes Enforcement Network",
      "type": "primary regulatory guidance",
      "url": "https://www.fincen.gov/resources/statutes-regulations/guidance/application-fincens-regulations-persons-administering",
      "supports": "The user, administrator, and exchanger distinctions and the money-transmitter analysis published in March 2013."
    },
    {
      "id": "exchanges-mtgox-filing",
      "title": "Civil rehabilitation announcement",
      "publisher": "MtGox Co., Ltd.",
      "type": "primary company and court-process notice",
      "url": "https://www.mtgox.com/img/pdf/20140228-announcement_eng.pdf",
      "supports": "The application date and company-reported provisional assets, liabilities, and missing bitcoin."
    },
    {
      "id": "exchanges-cftc-coinflip",
      "title": "Coinflip enforcement order",
      "publisher": "Commodity Futures Trading Commission",
      "type": "primary regulatory order summary",
      "url": "https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/7231-15",
      "supports": "The 17 September 2015 action and the CFTC’s commodity classification for virtual currencies."
    },
    {
      "id": "exchanges-bitfinex-breach",
      "title": "Bitfinex security breach notice",
      "publisher": "Bitfinex",
      "type": "primary company notice",
      "url": "https://blog.bitfinex.com/announcements/security-breach/",
      "supports": "Bitfinex halted trading, deposits, and withdrawals after detecting a bitcoin-wallet security breach on 2 August 2016."
    },
    {
      "id": "exchanges-btce-case",
      "title": "BTC-e indictment announcement",
      "publisher": "U.S. Department of Justice",
      "type": "primary charging announcement",
      "url": "https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/pr/russian-national-and-bitcoin-exchange-charged-21-count-indictment-operating-alleged",
      "supports": "The charges and disruption announced on 26 July 2017; allegations should retain their procedural status."
    },
    {
      "id": "exchanges-quadriga-report",
      "title": "QuadrigaCX review",
      "publisher": "Ontario Securities Commission",
      "type": "primary regulator investigation report",
      "url": "https://www.osc.ca/quadrigacxreport/web/files/QuadrigaCX-A-Review-by-Staff-of-the-Ontario-Securities-Commission.pdf",
      "supports": "OSC staff’s evidence, findings, loss reconstruction, and conclusion that fraud caused the collapse."
    },
    {
      "id": "exchanges-coinbase-listing",
      "title": "Coinbase 2021 annual report",
      "publisher": "U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission",
      "type": "primary issuer filing",
      "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1679788/000167978822000031/coin-20211231.htm",
      "supports": "Coinbase completed its direct listing and began public trading on 14 April 2021."
    },
    {
      "id": "exchanges-bitfinex-seizure",
      "title": "Bitfinex-linked recovery and arrest announcement",
      "publisher": "U.S. Department of Justice",
      "type": "primary enforcement record",
      "url": "https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/two-arrested-alleged-conspiracy-launder-45-billion-stolen-cryptocurrency",
      "supports": "The 8 February 2022 seizure of more than 94,000 BTC linked to the theft, the charged laundering allegations, and the procedural status of the case at announcement."
    },
    {
      "id": "exchanges-ftx-docket",
      "title": "FTX restructuring docket",
      "publisher": "United States Bankruptcy Court / claims agent archive",
      "type": "primary court-proceeding archive",
      "url": "https://restructuring.ra.kroll.com/FTX/",
      "supports": "The Chapter 11 case record beginning on 11 November 2022."
    },
    {
      "id": "exchanges-binance-case",
      "title": "United States v. Binance Holdings Limited",
      "publisher": "U.S. Department of Justice",
      "type": "primary criminal case record",
      "url": "https://www.justice.gov/criminal/case/united-states-v-binance-holdings-limited-dba-binancecom",
      "supports": "The Justice Department’s world-largest-exchange characterization, 21 November 2023 guilty plea, offenses, and $4.3 billion resolution."
    },
    {
      "id": "exchanges-mica-regulation",
      "title": "Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, Article 149",
      "issued": "2023-06-09",
      "publisher": "Official Journal of the European Union / EUR-Lex",
      "type": "primary legislation",
      "url": "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/1114/oj",
      "supports": "Article 149 establishes the regulation’s phased application dates, including general application from 30 December 2024."
    },
    {
      "id": "exchanges-esma-mica",
      "title": "Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation overview",
      "publisher": "European Securities and Markets Authority",
      "type": "primary regulator guidance",
      "url": "https://www.esma.europa.eu/esmas-activities/digital-finance-and-innovation/markets-crypto-assets-regulation-mica",
      "supports": "MiCA’s phased applicability and the crypto-asset-service-provider framework."
    }
  ]
}