Are you a Bitcoin enthusiast? If so, you will be surprised to know some interesting and lesser-known facts about it. Before you hop onto the Bitcoin bandwagon, it is imperative to know these to get an idea of the investment you will be making. Bitcoin is not simply a digital currency; it has become the buzzword for the modern generation of investors and has brought forth a huge technological revolution. Here are some important facts about the Bitcoin that you may not have heard of:
- You must have heard of Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of the Bitcoin; it is still not clear whether this was the name of an individual or a group and where the entity vanished in 2010. He still holds 980,000 Bitcoins, making him one of the wealthiest humans.
- To respect the creators the smallest fraction unit of the Bitcoin has been named a “satoshi” and is valued at approximately 0.00005 USD.
- There is a controversy centering on Bitcoins’ future. While the original users want to hold on to its anonymity and are wary of institutionalization, banks and other corporations are now trying to take it over after realizing its true potential.
- Did you know that the first Bitcoin transaction was made to buy a couple of pizzas? Most people would think Bitcoins had been used first to buy illicit substances like weapons or drugs but they were actually used to buy pizzas. The payment took place in May, 2010 and was done by a programmer with BTC investments who paid Papa John’s for the pizzas. However, now Bitcoins are widely traded using automated trading apps like crypto bank. Run the crypto bank test 2021 to know the efficacy of the software.
- A rather frightening fact associated with the Bitcoin is that if you lose your private keys to access the funds, you can end up losing all your Bitcoins at one go. All Bitcoin transactions require a private and public key; the private key gives you sole access to your wallet and coins. If you misplace or lose this key, you cannot retrieve the Bitcoins in the wallet.
- The emergence of Bitcoins led to the growth of a huge crypto mining industry. Mining was found to be profitable and this made individuals invest capital to build specialized mining rigs to mine the coins. However, it was soon realized that mining is highly energy-intensive and needed specialized hardware. Miners had to get enough storage space for equipment and proper ventilation to ensure that the machines worked optimally. Try out News Spy if you are aspiring to trade and earn profit on a daily basis.
- Did you know that Ireland uses 5000 kilowatt hours annually while mining farms together use up almost 60 terawatt-hours of power? This just goes to show how energy-intensive mining can be and how much power is being consumed to generate Bitcoins.
- While Bitcoins are known for their anonymity and ease-of-use in cross-border payments, they have also been used by criminals in buying illicit drugs and weapons. In 2014, an individual known as Amreeki claimed that since the terror outfit ISIS was facing trouble getting donations in fiat currencies, donors were being asked to transfer Bitcoins.
- There can only be 21 million Bitcoins and no more. While almost 18 million have already been mined, the last is expected to be mined in 2140. While miners were being rewarded with 12.5 BTC for every block mined, the reward was halved to 6.25 BTC in 2020 following the famous Bitcoin halving event.
- Genesis, a Bitcoin mining firm, has sent Bitcoins to space when a weather balloon took a paper wallet into the sky. The wallet supposedly soared to a height of 34 kilometers, crossing the stratosphere.