Source: Criptotendencias

10 Things You Didn’t Know About Bitcoin

Bitcoin has come a long way since its inception and several ups and downs in value, but one thing that has never declined is its popularity. This cryptocurrency is the first of this type ever created. BTC history starts almost 11 years ago, on January 3, in 2009. From that moment, Bitcoin went from a completely secondary role to an unprecedented popularity and value. Today, everyone wants to own a few Bitcoins and it can be said that this cryptocurrency has become more popular than other assets like gold.

In addition to the financial revolution, this worldwide sensation has revolutionized technology thanks to blockchain. However, although BTC has been in circulation for over a decade, there are many things that are still unknown to people, even to the owners of these digital coins. If you aren’t a cryptocurrency trader but would like to know more and get the right help and smart investing strategies to become part of the market, we suggest you visit crypto-profit.io. In the meantime, keep reading and check out the following list of the top 10 things you probably didn’t know about Bitcoin. Well, if you’re ready, let’s get started.

Bitcoin
05.12.2017 Foto: Shutterstock

1. The first transaction that included BTC was for buying pizza

Believe it or not, the first transaction in history to include Bitcoin as a payment method in the real world happened on May 22, 2010. This day was declared Bitcoin Pizza Day because 10,000 Bitcoins were spent buying two pizzas. Crazy, isn’t it?

Still, it was a period when BTC wasn’t worth much, so 10,000 Bitcoins equaled the value of two pizzas. This transaction was made by one programmer to buy the aforementioned fast food from Papa John’s. We believe that this day is one of the saddest for this guy in his life. If he hadn’t made this transaction, he would become a millionaire because that amount of BTCs today would be worth about $80 million.

2. Bitcoin code contains only few thousand lines

There is no doubt that the advent of BTC has brought about a major technological revolution primarily due to the advanced blockchain technology on which this cryptocurrency is based. However, have you ever wondered what the code of this highly advanced system looks like? Almost 11 years ago, in January 2009, BTC creator Satoshi Nakamoto introduced the software on which this cryptocurrency is based. Soon, the software became open source and accessible to everyone.

However, the more interesting thing is the software itself. Namely, there are only 31,000 lines of code. By comparison, Windows 2000 has a whopping 19 million lines. When we consider this, it is clear that Bitcoin is truly an amazing and revolutionary thing that has brought a lot of benefits to people.

Source: Cryptopys

3. Private key is the most important thing if you want to keep your BTCs

If you’ve ever traded BTCs, you know you need to have a public key and a private key. In this case, the public key is used to ensure that the transaction is executed safely and that you can receive funds. On the other hand, a private key is very important because it allows your Bitcoin wallet to be secure and only you can access funds. If it happens to lose your private key, you will never be able to recover your BTCs. This means that all the money you had will be lost forever and there is no way to get it back. Therefore, make sure your private key is always in a safe place.

4. The mining industry is massive

One of the most popular ways of getting Bitcoin is mining. There are companies in the world that own entire mining farms and that have a lot of expensive mining equipment. If you think this is a good way, believe, only the big players can succeed because at certain times there is a halving of BTC. The initial solved block award was 50 BTCs, after the first halving it was 25 BTCs, while now it is 12.5 BTCs. With the reduction of the prize, mining becomes unsustainable and more expensive. The countries with the highest number of Bitcoin miners currently are China, Georgia and the US.

5. Bitcoin has reached space

When we say this, we mean literally. Genesis Mining, one of the largest BTC mining companies, sent a weather balloon in 2016 to a height of 20 km with a paper wallet attached. Upon reaching this height, the P2P transaction was executed with a wallet and later the balloon reached an even greater height of 34 kilometers, meaning that BTC was the first and so far, the only cryptocurrency to leave the stratosphere.

Source: Zurich Versicherung

6. The Satoshi

Everyone knows Bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency. However, did you know that 1 BTC consists of even one hundred million satoshis-the smallest unit of this coin. Satoshi is named after BTC creator Satoshi Nakamoto.

7. Liberland uses BTC as official currency

Have you ever heard of Liberland? This small country was created by activist and politician Vít Jedlička in 2015. It is located between Serbia and Croatia, in Europe, on the west bank of the Danube. However, another interesting thing about Liberland is that the official national currency is Bitcoin.

8. The BTC number is limited

Unlike FIAT currencies that can be reprinted over and over, the BTC number is limited. This means that at one point when the last BTC is mined and the number of 21 million BTCs is reached, it’ll no longer be new Bitcoins.

Source: Rzeczpospolita

9. Inspiration for many altcoins

As we have said repeatedly, BTC is the first cryptocurrency ever. However, the popularity of this digital coin has inspired other companies and developers to create their own cryptocurrencies. Unfortunately, none of the altcoins have ever reached popularity as close as BTC, but we can say that Ethereum, Ripple, or Litecoin, for example, are very popular.

10. Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?

Although the official name of Bitcoin creator and genius behind blockchain technology is Satoshi Nakamoto, no one officially knows who that person is. Also, the mystery is even greater because it is unknown whether it is about one person or a group of people. In any case, Satoshi Nakamoto is currently the biggest mystery of the crypto world.

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