Are you planning to invest in Bitcoin? Well, it certainly seems the best choice, given that Bitcoin has been the world’s number one cryptocurrency for almost a decade now. But, did you know the initial years were not so kind for this king of cryptocurrencies? In fact, for the first couple of years, the price of bitcoin was less than even a dollar. For more such interesting facts about Bitcoin, keep reading this article.
Founded in 2009 as a cryptocurrency for seamless cross-border payments, Bitcoin is now the undisputed god of the crypto world, with its market cap nearing 1 trillion USD.
In the past, Bitcoin has consistently given significant returns to investors & holders over time, which is why it’s now become the cryptocurrency of choice for beginners, individuals and institutional investors alike.
Whether you are planning to buy Bitcoin or simply curious to know more about the world’s top digital currency, here are the 10 interesting facts that you absolutely must know about Bitcoin.
#1 The first-ever bitcoin purchase transaction was to buy a pizza.
On 22 May 2010, a person named Laszlo Hanyecz used his bitcoins to buy two pizzas from Papa John’s. And can you imagine how much he spent on this purchase? A whopping 10,000 BTC was used in exchange for just two pizzas. That’s over $343 million USD in today’s value. Only if he kept holding instead of selling his bitcoin for two pizzas.
To honor the occasion, May 22 is since then celebrated as Bitcoin Pizza Day.
#2 Satoshi is the smallest unit of bitcoin named in the honor of Bitcoin’s Founder
Most beginners, and even some serious bitcoin investors, do not know that Satoshi is the smallest unit of bitcoin that one can purchase. It was named in the honor of the mysterious founder of Bitcoin - Satoshi Nakamoto.
Mysterious because no one knows who Satoshi Nakamoto is, whether he is a person or a group, or whether he is alive today.
#3 Bitcoin is not truly decentralized, as 50% of its hashrate is controlled by 4 entities
Although Bitcoin as a decentralized currency is not supposed to be controlled by central entities, it is believed that 50% of the Bitcoin hashrate is managed by 4 entities, namely BTC.com, AntPool, ConnectBTC, and BTC.TOP, which often makes experts wonder whether bitcoin is truly and purely decentralized.
#4 Bitcoin is Private, but it’s also Transparent
While bitcoin’s network doesn’t need a user to give his name or identity when making a transaction, it is completely possible to see a particular user’s bitcoin history by using his public address.
All transactions on the bitcoin network are made through public addresses, which are unique. So, if someone knows your public address, they can easily find out how much bitcoin you have purchased and/or sold.
#5 There is no way to recover a bitcoin wallet once the private key is lost or forgotten
Bitcoin uses encryption to protect the holdings and wallets of its network users. Losing your bitcoin private key, which is equal to your wallet password, means you’ll no longer be able to access your bitcoins. And since there is no way to recover a private key once it’s lost, you cannot get your bitcoins back once the wallet key is lost. This is why almost 60 percent of bitcoin wallets/addresses have no owners.
#6 In March 2021, Tesla CEO Announced that one can now buy a Tesla with bitcoin
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is known to be a cryptocurrency enthusiast and has been often seen promoting Bitcoin, DOGE, among other cryptocurrencies. On 24 March 2021, Musk announced that his company Tesla will now accept Bitcoins from customers looking to buy electric cars.
However, the decision was later temporarily revoked amid concerns about the environmental impacts of bitcoin mining.
#7 Even though bitcoin is a currency, it can also be treated as a commodity
Since always, there has been a debate on whether bitcoin is a currency or can be used as a commodity. Well, the primary and major use of bitcoin is and will always be as a digital currency for global payments. However, under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and for official purposes, Bitcoin and other virtual currencies have been defined as commodities.
#8 Unlike fiat money, bitcoin cannot be printed
New bitcoins are created through a process called mining, which involves solving a computational puzzle by humans called miners using computers/systems called nodes. Miners are rewarded with new bitcoins for successful computations.
Also, it’s worth noting that the total bitcoin supply is limited to 21 billion, i.e. there can never be more than 21 billion bitcoins in circulation. At the time of writing this article, 18,748,193.00 BTC have already been mined.
#9 In 2021, El Salvador became the first recognised country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender
Thanks to President Nayib Bukele's efforts to legalize the cryptocurrency in the country, the El Salvador Congress gave its approval to accept and adopt bitcoin as a legal form of tender, making it the first country to do so. As a legal tender of money, bitcoin can now be used the same as their national fiat currency in El Salvador.
Liberland is an unrecognized micronation country to have adopted Bitcoin as its national currency.
#10. Buying bitcoin is now easier than ever
With 100s of bitcoin exchanges out there, it’s now easier than ever to buy Bitcoins, no matter which country you live in. Even if your country has no bitcoin exchange accepting your local fiat currency for payments, you can always buy bitcoin through a P2P exchange like Shiftal and pay using any of the 70+ payment options.
To buy Bitcoin directly and securely through Shiftal P2P exchange, create an account on the website https://www.shiftal.com/ and start buying.