Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency which showed us that it is possible to have digital currency without being mediated by banks or governments.
If you don’t know yet, these are 5 facts about Bitcoin:
More or less 20% of Bitcoin has been lost forever
According to crypto data firm Chainalysis, around 20% of Bitcoin has been lost or is stuck in wallets that can’t be accessed. Today that equates to 3.76 million BTC (worth about $190 billion).
How is this even possible ?
Well, people who passed away without sharing access to their bitcoin is one because the coin in their account will be there forever like it is a treasure that needs to be illegally accessed.
Another is the lost keys. This is not like a bank or social media account in which if you forgot the password or PIN , you can always reset. If you lost your keys, it will be the end of accessing your coins.
Lastly is the hardware crypto wallet. It is where they store their assets offline as it is hard to be penetrated. However if you lose the wallet , password and recovery phase that’s it. You have come to your end.
668 million transactions
Based on Blockchain.com the transaction since its launch in 2009 have reached 668 million transaction. If we are going to talk per day it is estimated to be 265,714 transactions.
Legal Tender in El Salvador
El Salvador has been the first country to accept Bitcoin as a legal tender. According to the dictionary , legal tender means coins or banknotes that must be accepted if offered in payment of a debt. This has been controversial because the government said that every citizen who opened digital wallet will receive 30$. However the World Bank refused this idea because of the transparency concerns.
Very last Bitcoin can only be mine in 2140
Only 21 million Bitcoin can ever be produced. It’s built into the coin’s code or DNA. As of now there are 18 million plus approximately coins have been mined. This means that it will take 120 years to produce the remaining 2 million coins.
Pizza Commercial for Bitcoin
Back in the year 2010, Hanyecz paid around 10,000 BTC for two Papa John’s Pizza. That time it is equivalent to 41$. This is the first commercial of Bitcoin pertaining to its transaction.
