Bitcoin in itself is one of the most surprising innovations that humanity has witnessed. In 2009 it set out to transform the financial ecosystem of the world forever.
Bitcoin made it possible for people to directly conduct transactions without a third party. It created an astonishing phenomenon that changed the finance to healthcare industries.
Today majority of people are actively using Bitcoin for investment as well as transaction purposes. However few of us are still skeptical about it. This is because they don’t really understand what is Bitcoin.
Today we have brought 7 interesting facts about Bitcoin that will lure your attention to Bitcoin.
TOP 7 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT BITCOIN
If Bitcoin was not surprising enough for you, it will get now.
Being a crypto enthusiast you can’t miss these amazing Bitcoin fun facts. Have a look at the top 7 puzzling Bitcoin facts.
1. Mysterious Founder
Today Bitcoin is a multi-million Dollar hot thing. But still, there is no word about its founder, Satoshi Nakamoto. There have been many speculations about its founder. But none have been proved correct.
We also don’t know if Satoshi Nakamoto is a male, female or a group of institutions or people. Some of the wildest claims made about Satoshi Nakamoto are as follows:
- It’s possibly a group of companies like Samsung, Motorola, Toshiba and Nakamichi.
- Nick Szabo, a renowned cryptographer and scientist can be the founder of Bitcoin.
- Craig Wright an Australian entrepreneur in 2016 claimed to be the father of Bitcoin on BBC.
- In March 2014, speculations about a man named Dorian Prentice Satoshi Nakamoto emerged. But he denied all the claims.
- Hal Finney can be Satoshi Nakamoto as he once claimed to be in contact with him.
- One of the employees of the Fast Company claimed that Neal King, Vladimir Oksman, and Charles Bry created Bitcoin.
There is no concrete proof to verify any of the above claims. No one knows if one of these claims are true or just a mere coincidence.
The quest to find the father of Bitcoin is still on.
2. The first Bitcoin transaction was to buy pizza
We all consider Bitcoin as a digital asset or an investment purpose. Some even use it for transaction purposes.
But buying a pizza with Bitcoin seems a little weird.
Who would have thought to buy pizza with Bitcoin?
Well Laszlo Hanyecz did. In May 2010, he bought 2 Papa John’s Pizza with 10,000 Bitcoins. With this, he made the first commercial Bitcoin transaction. This was when no retailer accepted Bitcoin for payments.
May 22 is even celebrated as Bitcoin Pizza day for this very reason.
As of 14 October 2021, 10,000 Bitcoins is worth $574,726,000. You can enjoy Pizza for the rest of your life with 10,000 Bitcoins. At the time when Laszlo bought pizza, 10,000 Bitcoins was worth only $41.
3. Bitcoin number is limited
Did you know that only a certain number of Bitcoins can be ever be mined?
It’s not that miners can keep on mining more and more Bitcoins every year. The system of Bitcoin was designed so that only 21 million Bitcoins can be produced. Currently, 18.8 million Bitcoins have been already mined as of 2021.
The number of Bitcoins that can be mined reduces by half every four years. Following this formula, 90% of the total Bitcoins is already in circulation. It will take approximately 120 years to mine the rest Bitcoins. By the year 2041, miners can produce the remaining 2.2 million Bitcoins.
4. 20% of the Bitcoin is lost
Chainanalysis, a crypto data firm claimed that 20% of the total Bitcoin has been lost forever.
How can that be possible?
According to Decrypt, the top coin’s enigmatic creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, owns around 1.1 million BTC. It’s widely assumed that Nakamoto will never touch those coins.
Unfortunately, some persons died without providing access to their Bitcoin, resulting in yet another batch of out-of-circulation coins.
Another major factor contributing to the loss is the crypto key. Crypto keys work similarly to a bank account PIN in that they are required to access or trade your coins.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a convenient “forgot password” feature. So, if you misplace your keys, those coins are unlikely to be found.
5. Bitcoin is Legal Tender in El Salvador
When China is declaring a complete ban on crypto, other countries are in the process to accept it. Some are releasing rules and regulations for Bitcoin transactions while some want to monitor them.
However, there is one country that already implemented the Bitcoin law. El Salvador becomes the first country to accept Bitcoin as legal tender.
Addressing the nation he announced to give $30 to every citizen who downloads the government’s crypto app. But Bitcoin will not replace the US dollar as the mode of payment in the country.
He said “The use of Bitcoin will be optional, nobody will receive Bitcoin if they don’t want it,”
He then went on to say “If someone receives a payment in Bitcoin they can choose to automatically receive it in dollars.”
6. The smallest unit of Bitcoin
The smallest unit of Bitcoin is called Satoshi. It is equal to one hundred millionth of a single Bictoin. the unit is named to pay homage to the founder of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto.
1 Satoshi = 0.00000001 BTC
7. Bitcoin transactions are visible yet anonymous
Bitcoin transactions are made online and visible to all the transactions are stored on Blockchain network across computers all over the world.
The amount, time, wallet from which the money was sent, and wallet that received the money are all facts maintained on this ledger.
While Bitcoin wallet records are public, there is no built-in procedure for determining who owns them.
Conclusion
Bitcoin is the digital gold of the future. Though volatility and risks are associated with cryptocurrency, major firms are shifting to crypto investments.
The world is moving towards digital currency and Bitcoin is set to rule in the coming years.
Surely, these Bitcoin fun facts must have tempted you. Interested to know more?
Read more articles on crypto and Bitcoin at Cryptohodly.
