Here are the Top Interesting Facts about the Bitcoin

Bitcoin is considered one of the most disruptive innovations of the 21^st century and continues to be shrouded by a veil of mysteries and facts that often tend to sound made up. Most people tend to focus on the currency part of bitcoin; but there is more than we can see on the surface.

Although most news and information around bitcoin tends to go over the head, here are some interesting facts about bitcoin to ponder upon.

1. Table of Contents

   The creator(s) of Bitcoin

Satoshi Nakamoto was given the credit for being the developer of bitcoin in 2009, they are considered to be an anonymous individual/ group of people who created this cryptocurrency.

There have been several conspiracy theories surrounding this issue with several individuals coming forward as being Nakamoto, but were disproved through lack of proof or through the fabrication of evidence.

One of the theories suggests some of the biggest companies in Asia to be the developers. The companies include Samsung, Toshiba, Nakamichi and Motorola. Parts of the companies’ names form the name, Satoshi Nakamoto.

2. Bitcoin Pizza Day

The first thing that was purchased via bitcoin happens to be pizza. Thus, May 22 is celebrated as Bitcoin Pizza Day to commemorate the purchase of two Papa John’s Pizzas.

This purchase took place in 2010 by Laszlo Hanyecz, a Florida-based programmer. The purchase was made via a trade of 10,000 bitcoins. Although that amounted to $41 in 2010, 10,000 bitcoins are roughly worth $64 million.

Till date, this transaction is credited for being the most expensive food order to have ever been made.

3. 21 million bitcoins

The creators of bitcoin intended for it to be a finite resource and thus created this cryptocurrency with the intention of there only ever being a total of 21 million bitcoins. As of today, a total of 16.3 million bitcoins have been mined and are in circulation.

The last of the bitcoins shall be mined in 2140, after which there shall never be any new bitcoins in circulation. So, this is the time to trade online.

4. A bitcoin private key

A private key acts as a bitcoin wallet through which a bitcoin owner can check their finances. This password is extremely critical, if this is lost then the chances are you will also lose your bitcoins.

As far as we are aware, a whopping 25% of all bitcoins in existence are currently lost. This is due to stolen computers, laptops, hard drives or misplaced and forgotten passwords.

In November of 2013, an IT employee by the name of James Howell lost 7,500 bitcoins. Howell lost the bitcoins he had mined in 2010 while he was cleaning his desk; he threw away the hard disk that consisted of his private key. Currently, 7,500 bitcoins are worth about $19.4 million.

5. Unofficial mascot

Bitcoin was given an unofficial animal mascot to represent the cryptocurrency. The animal mascot is the honey badger.

Honey Badgers are known for their resilience; they can withstand outstanding situations such as injuries and snake bites. People felt that this perfectly represented bitcoin as the cryptocurrency has been through several hardships; from conspiracy theories to mishaps and losses.

6. The first cryptocurrency

Although bitcoin is the first thing to come to mind when talking about cryptocurrency, it in fact is not the first cryptocurrency to be developed.

Digicash was created in 1989 by David Chaum on the basis of cryptographic protocols and is credited with being the first cryptocurrency.

Final Words

A lot is yet to be uncovered about bitcoins and cryptocurrencies in general. Here are some interesting facts about bitcoins to keep you on your toes.