20 Fun Bitcoin Facts You Should Know
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| Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko from Pexels |
If you are reading these lines, then you definitely do not live in a cave and have at least once heard about cryptocurrency and Bitcoin. It has existed since 2009, but discussions about its relevance, value and legitimacy have not ceased to this day. Here are some Bitcoin fun facts.
1. Who Created Bitcoin
All that is known about the creator of Bitcoin (BTC) is his nickname Satoshi Nakamoto. The mysterious Mr. Nakamoto introduced Bitcoin in 2009 and by 2011 had disappeared from the network without a trace. In general, the anonymity of the creator of the cryptocurrency fits perfectly into the concept of its decentralization.
2. Bitcoin Pizza Day
This day is celebrated on May 22. In 2010, a Florida-based programmer made the first purchase and use of Bitcoin. He traded 10,000 coins for two pizzas, which cost about $ 41 in dollar terms. Now the amount of 10,000 BTC is quite comparable to the annual budget of some countries.
3. One of the Largest Bitcoin Wallets Owned by the FBI
In 2013, the FBI terminated the Silk Road website, which was actively involved in illegal Bitcoin trading. After the end of the special operation, about 1.5% of the BTC in circulation was concentrated in the hands of the FBI. At that time, they were worth about a billion dollars.
4. How Many Bitcoins Can There Be
The creator of the coin limited their number. There will never be more than 21 million BTC in circulation. Now their number is approaching 19 million coins. At the same time, the Dogecoin mining pool could theoretically last forever.
5. If You Lose Your Private Key, You Will Lose Your Funds
To store cryptocurrency, special programs or devices are used, which are called wallets. The private key is a secret code that confirms your right to access the contents of the wallet. If you lose your key, your assets will be irretrievably lost.
According to some estimates, about 20% of mined BTC is no longer available due to the loss or theft of keys or broken equipment.
6. Cancelling Transaction Is Impossible
Cryptocurrency transactions are irreversible. If you make a wrong address, it is no longer possible to track or cancel the payment. When paying with BTC, be very careful.
7. Bitcoin is Very Volatile
BTC has experienced rapid ups and downs just as quickly. The price of the largest digital currency is influenced by news, the general economic situation and many other not always obvious factors.
8. More Powerful than a Supercomputer
The computing power of the Bitcoin network is estimated at 2,046,364 Pflop / s. The computing power of 500 supercomputers does not exceed 280 Pflop / s.
9. Bitcoin Flew into Space
In 2016, cloud provider Genesis Mining tied a paper wallet and a 3D Bitcoin model to a weather balloon. One of the successful deals was made at an altitude of 34 km, outside the earth's atmosphere.
10. Byte Satoshi
Any fiat currency is divided into a bargaining chip, the denomination of which is usually 0.01 of the value of the base currency. Unlike a physical bargaining chip, 1 byte of satoshi costs 0.00000001 BTC and this is not the smallest part of it. This fragmentation simplifies the calculations, but also creates the problem of "cryptocurrency dust".
11. Transactions in BTC Cost Almost Nothing
Transactions using digital assets are performed without intermediaries and, accordingly, without commissions. Only some exchanges charge commissions as they have to pay off the miners.
12. Transactions Are Completely Anonymous
The wallet address is a 34-character alphanumeric code. Using the address, it is almost impossible to find out who owns the wallet.
13. No One Can Ban Bitcoin
All attempts by individual governments to ban BTC have failed. Digital assets are everywhere and nowhere at the same time. You can try to ban them, but it is technically impossible to deploy effective systemic repression.
14. Bitcoin Wasn't the First P2P Digital Currency
Before Bitcoin, at least 4 digital currencies were successfully created: Bit Gold, Hashcash, B-Money and DigiCash, which is considered the predecessor of BTC. All of them were centralized and most likely this is what killed them.
15. Bitcoin Can Be Used For Shopping
The anonymity of cryptocurrencies is ideal for their use on the black market. However, this does not mean that they cannot be used in the legal field. More and more reputable companies are accepting BTC as legal tender.
16. Bitcoin Is Created Through Mining
The process of mining BTC is called mining, and the technology behind it is blockchain.
17. Bitcoin Consumes a Lot Of Energy
The huge computing power involved in mining BTC consumes a huge amount of energy. If you imagine a country where all the miners in the world will live, it will take the 61st place in the world in terms of electricity consumption with a population of about 2 million people.
18. Overflow Incident
In August 2010, the network crashed. Someone found a vulnerability in the code and managed to create 180 million coins. The error was quickly fixed, the coins created were destroyed and the original limit of 21 million BTC was returned.
19. BTC Is Not the Only Cryptocurrency
Today, in addition to BTC, there are more than 7,000 cryptocurrencies.
20. BTC Can Be Taxed
While cryptocurrencies are not yet universally considered a legitimate tender, in some countries they are taxed like stocks, bonds, and other traditional assets.
