Bitcoin uses peer-to-peer technology to operate with no central authority or banks; managing transactions and the issuing of bitcoins is carried out collectively by the network. Bitcoin is open-source; its design is public, nobody owns or controls Bitcoin and everyone can take part. Through many of its unique properties, Bitcoin allows exciting uses that could not be covered by any previous payment system.
If you want to know a bit more about bitcoin, here are a few few fun facts that may tickle your fancy.
1. A pizza purchase was the first bitcoin commercial transaction
On May 22, 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz paid 10,000 BTC for two Papa John’s pizzas worth about $41 at the time. This was the first commercial Bitcoin transaction and is now commemorated through Bitcoin Pizza day each year.
In today’s market, 10,000 BTC is worth over $400 million which is probably why this story is told across the crypto space.
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2. Bitcoin’s total supply will never exceed 21 million
Bitcoin has a total supply of 21 million of which about 18.8 million are already in supply. Having a half life of 4 years, the mining rewards of bitcoin reduces by half every four years.
Having noted the half life of bitcoin, it will take another 120 years to mine the remaining 2.2 million BTCs left.
3. The power of ‘B’
The terms ‘Bitcoin’ with an uppercase and ‘bitcoin’ with a lower case means two different things. The latter (bitcoin) means the currency that is used for transactions and the former (Bitcoin) means the blockchain that stores information regarding these transactions.
4. The mysterious creator of Bitcoin
Bitcoin was created in 2009 by a person or group of people known as Satoshi Nakamoto. Satoshi vanished in 2010 and no one has since heard from him/her. He/Her only communicated via emails and forums and even the registrant of the bitcoin domain name cannot be traced.
Satoshi’s wallet is rumored to contain about 1,000,000 bitcoin of which none has ever been sold. The whereabouts of Satoshi Nakamoto is known to no one.
5. The smallest unit of bitcoin is known as Satoshi
As a sign of respect, the smallest unit of bitcoin is known as satoshi. To make one bitcoin, you need about 100 million satoshis.
6. Bitcoin can be mined
Asides purchasing bitcoin from exchanges or receiving through other peer to peer means, bitcoin can also be gotten through mining. This is possible because bitcoin utilizes the proof of work mechanism unlike other cryptocurrencies that make use of the proof of stake mechanism.
The rewards for mining bitcoin reduces by half every four years and by calculation, the last unit of bitcoin should be mined by 2140.
7. About 20% of Bitcoin in circulation has been lost
According to research, about 20% of bitcoin supply has been lost or are stuck in wallets that can’t be accessed. Over 1 million bitcoin is held in a wallet said to be owned by Satoshi Nakamoto. It is possible that Satoshi Nakamoto is dead or has lost his wallet private keys and if this is so, every bitcoin contained in the wallet is lost forever.
