- The Inventor of Bitcoin Remains Anonymous
- There’s A Difference Between Bitcoin and Bitcoin
- 30% of the Current Bitcoin Supply is Lost Forever
- Bitcoin was First Used to Buy Pizza
- The IRS Treats Bitcoin as Property, not Currency
- The Last Bitcoin will be Mined in 2140
- The First Bitcoin ATM was Set Up in Vancouver, Canada
- Wrapping It Up
Bitcoin has remained the leading cryptocurrency since its emergence in 2009. With a market capitalization of over $523.04 billion and daily trading volumes of $12.63 billion, it’s undoubtedly the largest digital asset as far as size and liquidity are concerned. While the Bitcoin price can fluctuate a lot, it’s precisely these price swings that bring about trading opportunities. Easy Methods to Earn Hefty Profits Through Bitcoin.
Blockchain technology, i.e., the underlying technology behind it, has the potential to transform various industries, including healthcare, real estate, retail, supply chain, and government and public administration, to name a few.
These random facts about it will come in handy when you’re looking to say something interesting and will lead to an interesting conversation. In a nutshell, these are the best facts we’ve found. We hope you enjoy reading.
The Inventor of Bitcoin Remains Anonymous
Until this day, the identity of its creator remains unknown. Satoshi Nakamoto is the pseudonym for the person or people who developed this coin, authored the white paper, and created the original reference implementation. For Bitcoin enthusiasts, trying to guess who its inventor is, is a fun hobby.
Communication to and from Satoshi Nakamoto was carried out exclusively by email, and the absence of personal/background details means it’s difficult, if not impossible, to find out the identity behind the name. Throughout the years, a couple of individuals have been suspected of being Bitcoin’s mystery creators, namely Dorian Nakamoto, Craig Wright, Half Finney, and Nick Szabo.
There’s A Difference Between Bitcoin and Bitcoin
There’s a great difference between the uppercase B and its lowercase counterpart in it. To be more precise, when the B is capitalized, it refers to the concept of BTC– in other words, the technology, the protocol, the software, and the community.
If the b isn’t capitalized, it represents the unit of currency that is used to perform the transactions. Therefore, you can say, “I just sent a few bitcoins by wallet transfer to the merchant.” Capitalization can be confusing and depends on the context. The technology that enables the existence of Bitcoin, blockchain, that is, is a generic concept, so the word “blockchain” is lowercase in a sentence.
30% of the Current Bitcoin Supply is Lost Forever
It’s estimated that 31% of this money is lost or stuck in wallets that can’t be accessed. In other words, roughly 31% of the current supply is permanently lost, which can be due to losing access to private keys, discarding hard drives, or sending tokens to invalid addresses.
This is circulating now is all you have access to in your life because there will never be more than 21 million coins. This limit called the hard cap, is encoded into the cryptocurrency’s source code. The risks of losing Bitcoin can be mitigated by backing up the recovery/seed phrase, triple-checking wallet addresses, and using a personal crypto wallet.
Bitcoin was First Used to Buy Pizza
Pizza was the first commodity to be bought using Bitcoin. In May 2010, a programmer, Laszlo Hanyecz, spent 10,000 bitcoins at a local pizza joint to buy two pizzas worth 40 dollars at the time. At present, that day is referred to as Bitcoin Pizza Day. With one bitcoin now worth $26,974.93, this is an apparent joke.
With time, it grew up and became big money, drawing its power from the small community of original investors, blockchain technology aficionados, and speculators seeking to make money. Holding is part of what drives the value of it up.
The IRS Treats Bitcoin as Property, not Currency
It is used just like any other currency to pay for goods and services in various places on the Internet and physical locations across the globe. Nevertheless, the IRS treats BTC as property, not cash, meaning that it’s subject to the rules surrounding capital gains and losses.
More exactly, you must report income, gain, or loss from all transactions involving it on your federal tax income for the current year. If you sell it for more than you paid for it, it qualifies as a capital gain. On the other hand, if you sell it for less, that’s considered a capital loss.
The Last Bitcoin will be Mined in 2140
As mentioned earlier, after the maximum number of coins is reached, no new ones will be issued. The last Bitcoin is forecasted to be mined somewhere around 2140. Many argue it’s improbable that it will ever reach 21 million because of how it rounds numbers.
The block reward for producing a new Bitcoin block is divided in half, so the amount of the new reward is recalculated.; halving occurs every four years. This systematic rounding down of block rewards explains why the number of bitcoins issued will fail to meet the standard.
The First Bitcoin ATM was Set Up in Vancouver, Canada
Its ATM is a simple way to purchase BTC with cash or a debit card. Some ATMs have bidirectional functionality, meaning they enable the sale of it for cash. Of course, it’s necessary to have an existing account to transact on the machine.
The world’s first Bitcoin ATM opened in Vancouver, Canada. It’s most likely been removed or replaced, but its ATMs have continued to increase in number, with approximately 69,000 ATMs in existence today. The leading hub of these ATMs is, undoubtedly, the United States – they’ve been popping up at gas stores and even grocery stores.
Wrapping It Up
If you’re interested in learning more about Bitcoin or blockchain technology, consider immersing yourself in an online FinTech boot camp. Who knows? You might even transition to a new career. If you’re tempted to dip your toes into the crypto waters, research any exchange before you buy BTC because not all platforms are created equally.
Select a cryptocurrency exchange with strong security features, not to mention low fees and ease of access. Keep in mind, the price of it can be extremely volatile, so don’t rush to sell when the prices are low; leave your investment alone for a few months or even years at a time.
