10 Facts of Bitcoin Table of Contents
- The first product purchased using Bitcoin was pizza
- No one knows who invented Bitcoin (but there are educated guesses)
- Bitcoin use identity is difficult but possible to trace
- Hold onto your key or lose your BTC
- They’re not printed, they’re mined
- There will never be more than 21M
- You can buy stuff
- They can’t ban it
- Bitcoin ‘upgraded’
- Bitcoin inspired other digital coins
After its meteoric rise to crypto prominence back in 2017, Bitcoin, the world’s original cryptocurrency, has by and large fallen off of people’s radar, including those of cryptocurrency aficionados.
Could the first digital coin make a comeback?
With many newer and more innovative cryptocurrencies hitting the market, the jury is still out on that question.
In the meantime, here are just 10 interesting, fun facts that you may not have known about Bitcoin.
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1. The first product purchased using Bitcoin was pizza
May 22 is called ‘Bitcoin Pizza Day’ for a reason.
On that fateful day back in 2010, Bitcoin was used for the first time to make an actual product… well… two products: A couple of pizza pies from Papa John.
A man named Laszlo Hanyecz paid for his two pizzas using 10,000 BTC.
It was the very first official documented purchase of products using bitcoin.
When that exchange took place, 10,000 BTC was worth $41. Wanna guess how much it was worth in 2017?
It’s $196,799,600.
2. No one knows who invented Bitcoin (but there are educated guesses)
Bitcoin’s inventor goes by the name of ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’.
There’s just one problem. No one knows who Satoshi Nakamoto is.
And although the original white paper was published back in 2009, Nakamoto’s identity is a total mystery even until this day.
Some conspiracy theorists claim that companies: Samsung, Toshiba, Nakamichi, and Motorola invented Bitcoin.
Why? Because the first group of letters of each company’s name respectively spells out ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’.
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3. Bitcoin use identity is difficult but possible to trace
Bitcoin’s blockchain is a permanent ledger that tracks every transaction ever made.
Any transaction made cannot be erased. Even though anyone can see how many coins you own and when you made transactions, your identity can be hidden.
But although you can conceal your identity, it might be possible for someone who is determined enough to find out who you are.
That’s how the FBI eventually busted the owners of the Silk road.
4. Hold onto your key or lose your BTC
In 2013, a man named James Howells lost no less than 7,500 Bitcoins that he mined back in 2010 while cleaning his desk.
That’s because while doing so, he accidentally threw away his hard disk containing his private keys.
Let this serve as a lesson – no matter how many Bitcoins you own, they are completely worthless without your private key.
In case you were wondering, in 2018 those 7,500 BTC were worth approximately $19.4 million.
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5. They’re not printed, they’re mined
Unlike fiat currency, Bitcoin is not printed.
It’s mined on the blockchain network.
Miners on the network are periodically rewarded with coins which then go into circulation.
The power used to mine from the blockchain is 300 times greater than the world’s top five supercomputers combined.
6. There will never be more than 21M
Unlike some fiat currency, the supply of Bitcoin that can go into circulation is finite.
There can never be more than 21 million Bitcoins in circulation.
According to various assessments, the final bitcoin will be mined in 2140.
After 2140, no more new bitcoins can be mined.
They can only be exchanged.
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7. You can buy stuff
The digital economy has come a long way since the purchase of those two pizzas back in 2010.
That’s because today, Bitcoin can be used to purchase a wide array of products and services such as coffee at Starbucks, funeral items, space travel with Virgin Galatic, food orders, E-commerce with Purse io and even a Tesla vehicle.
8. They can’t ban it
Bitcoin can be regulated, but never banned.
That’s because anyone with a connection to the internet and a digital wallet can access Bitcoin.
Several countries including Bangladesh, Bolivia, Thailand, and Vietnam have tried to ban the cryptocurrency but failed.
Meanwhile other countries decided that if you can’t beat it, join it.
That’s why places like Australia, Russia, Japan, and Venezuela decided to make Bitcoin an official legal tender.
However, they are regulating it.
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9. Bitcoin ‘upgraded’
Although Bitcoin was the original cryptocurrency with the most value, it is also considered by some people to be the most obsolete digital coin as well.
In 2017, several of its developers made a more upgraded version of Bitcoin called ‘Bitcoin Cash’.
These types of offshoots are known in the crypto space as ‘forks’.
10. Bitcoin inspired other digital coins
Bitcoin and its blockchain technology inspired the creation of all other cryptocurrencies.
These include popular household names like Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple and Dash.
But it also includes lesser-known novelty cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin, Potcoin, and the Venezuelan Petro, whose president claims is backed by the socialist country’s oil, gas, gold, and diamond reserves.
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April 24, 2024
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