The decentralised cryptocurrency, bitcoin, has many fun and fascinating facts. We have selected 21 fun facts that you should know.
Contents
- 1 1. I Have Moved on to Other Things
- 2 2. Suspected Satoshi Nakamoto
- 3 3. Bitcoin is ‘Mined’ But Not Like Gold
- 4 4. Bitcoin ATMs in Africa
- 5 5. Value Overflow Incident Accidentally Created 184 Billion Bitcoins
- 6 6. The Maximum Number of Bitcoin is 21 Million
- 7 7. First Recipient of Bitcoin
- 8 8. Bitcoin Mining Consumes Energy Comparable to Australia
- 9 9. First University to Accept Bitcoins
- 10 10. Build With Bitcoin
- 11 11. The First Recorded Bitcoin Transaction Was a Pizza Purchase
- 12 12. The Largest Bitcoin Transaction Ever Made
- 13 13. Holding Bitcoin For 3 Years And Sell at a Profit
- 14 14. Bitcoin For Ransomware
- 15 15. If You Loose Your Bitcoin Private Key, You Lose Your Bitcoins Forever
- 16 16. The Blockstream Satellite Broadcasts the Bitcoin Blockchain to the Whole World Via Satellites
- 17 17. Where Is Bitcoin Illegal?
- 18 18. Celebrities Who Have Embraced Bitcoin
- 19 19. Bitcoin is Among the Best-Performing Assets
- 20 20. Bitcoin Will Hit $1 Million in 2020
- 21 21. The Rabbit Hole is Very Deep
1. I Have Moved on to Other Things
Who created Bitcoin? This is probably one of the greatest mysteries of the digital age. One or more persons using the name Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin in 2008. Then in 2010, Satoshi disappeared. The last time Satoshi was heard was in April 2011 when he sent an email saying, “I HAVE moved on to other things.”
Nobody has ever met him in person, heard his voice, or seen his photos. His bitcoins, which are now standing at many billions of dollars, have not been touched since “moving on to other things.” In 2017 Satoshi was the 44th richest person in the world.
2. Suspected Satoshi Nakamoto
The search for the real identity of Satoshi Nakamoto has been going on for years. Some of the people in the Bitcoin community that have been been suspected to be Satoshi Nakamoto include Adam Black, Nick Szabo, Wei Dai, Dorian Nakamoto and Hal Finney.
In April 2019, the British-American computer programmer and businessman, John McAfee, claimed that he knows Satoshi Nakamoto and that he has spoken to him. Though not many persons take this claim seriously.
3. Bitcoin is ‘Mined’ But Not Like Gold
Bitcoin is created through mining using Blockchain. Through mining, bitcoin transactions are validated. Afterwards, computers on the network compete to solve difficult mathematical equations. The computer that manages to solve the equation is rewarded the the newly created Bitcoins.
4. Bitcoin ATMs in Africa
In a continent where a country like Eritrea has no ATMs while Somalia opened its first ATM in 2014, it is interesting to note that by the end of 2021 there were 15 bitcoin ATMs in Africa located in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Djibouti.
5. Value Overflow Incident Accidentally Created 184 Billion Bitcoins
In 2010, a bug accidentally created 184 billion bitcoins. The error was caused by the code used for checking transaction outputs. The bug is known as value overflow incident and was fixed in a very short time span.
6. The Maximum Number of Bitcoin is 21 Million
There are only 21 million bitcoins that can be mined in total. This is because the Bitcoin protocol specifies that the reward for adding a block will be halved every 210,000 blocks, approximately every four years. When will 21 million bitcoins be reached? The limit of 21 million bitcoins will be reached in 2140; the record keeping will then be purely rewarded by transaction fees. It will take 34 years to mine the last bitcoin.
7. First Recipient of Bitcoin
Hal Finney was the first recipient of the first bitcoin transaction in January, 2009. His amassed fortune from bitcoin funds the cryogenic preservation of his body. He died in 2014 from ALS.
8. Bitcoin Mining Consumes Energy Comparable to Australia
According Digiconomist, Bitcoin mining consumes 73 terawatt-hours in 2019. That is comparable to the total energy consumption of Australia, a country of 25 million people. The reason for using so much energy resources is that miners use their computing power to validate transactions data and solve difficult mathematical puzzles on the blockchain.
Mining equipment is extremely portable, so big mining companies move their miners to cheap energy sources. This leads to additional investments in a lot of renewable sources.
9. First University to Accept Bitcoins
University of Nicosia, Cyprus, was the first university in the world to accept bitcoin to pay for academic fees. Red & Yellow Creative School of Business is the first college in Africa to accept Bitcoin payments for advanced diplomas, certificates and online courses. Other universities accepting bitcoin are Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Switzerland, ESMT Berlin, King’s College in the US, the University of Cumbria, and FPT University in Vietnam.
10. Build With Bitcoin
Paxful, a cryptocurrency marketplace, is working on a project to build 100 schools around the world through its #BuiltWithBitcoin initiative. With bitcoin donations, the project has already built two schools in Rwanda and is currently building a school in Kenya and Nigeria.
11. The First Recorded Bitcoin Transaction Was a Pizza Purchase
This is one of the most interesting bitcoin facts. On 22 May 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz made the first real-world transaction by buying two pizzas in Jacksonville, Florida, for 10,000 BTC. That amount would have been nearly $750,000 by March 2013. He sent the Bitcoin to a volunteer in England, who then spent about $25 to order Hanyecz some Papa John’s pizzas.
12. The Largest Bitcoin Transaction Ever Made
The largest ever transaction took place this year involving approximately $1 billion. Cryptocurrency analysts have failed to trace the individual or group involved in the transaction.
13. Holding Bitcoin For 3 Years And Sell at a Profit
Thus far in bitcoin’s history, there has never been a period where you could buy-and-hold for 3 years and not be able to sell at a profit. During most three-year spans, the profits would be dramatic.
14. Bitcoin For Ransomware
US corporations are buying Bitcoin to prepare for ransomware attack. Most hackers demand bitcoin ransom.
15. If You Loose Your Bitcoin Private Key, You Lose Your Bitcoins Forever
James Howells lost 7,500 bitcoins in November 2013. He threw away his hard disk containig his private keys while cleaning his house. Currently, 7,500 bitcoins are about $56 million. It is estimated that around 25% of all bitcoins have already being lost.
16. The Blockstream Satellite Broadcasts the Bitcoin Blockchain to the Whole World Via Satellites
The Blockstream Satellite network broadcasts the Bitcoin blockchain around the world 24/7 for free, protecting against network interruptions and providing anyone in the world with the opportunity to use bitcoin.
17. Where Is Bitcoin Illegal?
Bitcoin has been banned outright in Namibia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Bolivia, Vietnam, Ecuador, Bangladesh and Colombia. Most of these bans have proven to extremely ineffective. The only way for a government to properly ban bitcoin is to shut down the internet completely.
18. Celebrities Who Have Embraced Bitcoin
Bitcoin has been embraced by high profile figures in business, entertainment and sports world. Bitcoin celebrities include Gwyneth Paltrow, Paris Hilton, Snoop Dogg, Ashton Kutcher, Hugh Laurie, Mike Tyson, and Pitbull.
19. Bitcoin is Among the Best-Performing Assets
The value of bitcoin has gone up by more than 2000% in the past five years. Its performance is much better than what stocks and gold have returned.
20. Bitcoin Will Hit $1 Million in 2020
John McAfee predicted that each unit of bitcoin will be worth $1 million by the end of 2020. He says it is “mathematically impossible that one BTC will be less than $1 million by the end of 2020.” But McAfee has admitted in earlier occasions that he likes to pull publicity stunts.
His prediction has proven to be wrong, but there is a good chance that bitcoin will be worth $1M before 2030.
21. The Rabbit Hole is Very Deep
There is so much to learn about bitcoin: finance, economy, politics, game theory, history, mathematics, information security and more. If these facts about bitcoin make you want to learn more head over to Bitcoin-resources.com.
This post is also available in de_DE.