Bitcoin was born in 2009. Over 10 years of development, the Bitcoin network is growing and producing many new millionaires and billionaires. However, among many people who get rich thanks to Bitcoin and professional traders or investors, many people still do not have a basic understanding of this currency.
Here are the 9 most interesting facts about Bitcoin that a trader or a professional cryptocurrency investor should not pass.
1) A hacker created 184 billion BTC in 2010
On August 15, 2010, an anonymous hacker attacked the Bitcoin Blockchain, creating 184,467,440,737,09551616 BTC! This happened in block no. 74638.
Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, quickly addressed this issue. Version 0.3.1 has been released within 5 hours of the incident, which prevents the creation of Bitcoin through this vulnerability. 184 billion Bitcoins were created but shortly after were erased.
The chain created from BTC version 0.3.1 has become the main Blockchain people use today.
2) Bitcoin is the father of 430 Altcoins
By the time of this article, 2,651 cryptocurrencies had appeared on the market. However, 436 of these came from Bitcoin via direct or indirect branches.
The exact names of altcoins, along with their origins, have been described by Map of Coins. Bitcoin branches always upgraded to keep up with BTC but always failed, Bitcoin Cash is the most prominent example.
3) The original reward system paid 5 BTC for each person logging in
“Bitcoin faucet” is a reward system, operating in the form of websites or applications. The platform will issue rewards in the form of a satoshi, the currency unit of Bitcoin. Visitors receive this reward after completing a captcha or site request.
Gavin Andresen created the first system in June 2010. At today’s prices, his payout is extremely generous, equivalent to 5 BTC per visit. His goal at the time was to promote the Bitcoin application.
4) Only more than 732.000 addresses own more than 1 BTC
According to statistics, only 732,982 wallet addresses hold more than 1 Bitcoin. Compared to the more than 20 million existing wallet addresses, that number makes up an extremely small fraction.
Each of the top 100 addresses has accumulated a significant amount of Bitcoin. It seems that the majority are thinking that Bitcoin will become a leading store of value in the near future. Because only a handful of these accounts have cash outflows.
5) Satoshi is not the smallest unit of Bitcoin
Many people believe that Satoshi is the smallest unit of Bitcoin, in which 1 Satoshi is equivalent to 0.00000001 BTC. But, in fact, we have even smaller units currently used in the Lightning Network, called Millisatoshi (MSAT). And Millisatoshi is as equal as one-thousandth of Satoshi.
From there, we have:
1 SAT = 1000 MSAT
1 SAT = 0.00000001 BTC
1 MSAT = 0.00000000001 BTC
6) Bitcoin has died for 378 times in 2019
The dead Bitcoin rumors have been extremely exaggerated. In the bear market, the number of “death rumors” that the community devoted to Bitcoin is increasing.
Since 2010, there has been at least one “obituary” for Bitcoin. The market-leading cryptocurrency died 125 times in 2017, and 90 times in 2018.
By 2019, the number of times Bitcoin is “buried alive” has been 378 times!
7) There is not enough 21 million BTC for circulation
One common information is that Bitcoin is limited, with a total supply of 21 million coins.
It is known that there were about 2.78 million to 3.79 million BTC were disappeared. This amount corresponds to about 17% – 23% of the total supply of Bitcoin.
Besides, the data based on the hypothesis that 1,000,000 BTC owned by Satoshi Nakamoto is also considered as disappearing permanently.
The most disappearing amount of Bitcoin is owned by “Hodlers”. This is a BTC group that has been dug up for a long time (2-7 years ago) and is held by long-term investors.
The reasons for the disappearance of Bitcoin may arise from a number of transactions with the wrong address, forgetting the private key or the user’s death.
8) The number of whales is increasing
If the number of wallet addresses that own more than 1 BTC demonstrates the confidence of investors in Bitcoin that makes you feel secure, then the number of wallet addresses of less than 1,000 BTC in each wallet, can make you anxious.
The number of whales in Bitcoin is increasing. The number of wallets with more than 1,000 BTC has become a lot more common in 2019, reaching nearly 2,100 addresses. This figure was even higher in early 2014 before Mt.Gox collapsed.
9) Bitcoin is the best investment of the decade
In the early years of the decade, the world was facing a financial crisis. After that, the stock started to rise again. From the bottom of March 2009 until now, the S&P 500 has increased significantly, up to 369%. Similarly, the Dow Jones industrial average index also increased by 326% over the same period.
Then Bitcoin came along and overshadowed those numbers. Bitcoin has increased by 15 million percent. Starting from $ 0.05 in March 2010 to $ 7,000 today.
1 BTC is currently priced at $ 7,000, much lower than the 2017 peak of nearly $ 20,000. Still, it is tens of thousands of times higher than the price of just a few cents almost 10 years ago.
According to a report by The Next Web, if you invested $ 1 in Bitcoin in 2010, you would now have more than $ 90,000.
Bitcoin is still rated as a more speculative investment. However, over the past decade, the price of Bitcoin has skyrocketed, making the cryptocurrency more and more widely known and accepted.
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