What Is Bitcoin And 5 Interesting Facts About It
What is Bitcoin – Bitcoin is the first decentralized cryptocurrency that works on a blockchain based network. No central authority such as a government, central bank or any organization regulates or controls it.
What Is Bitcoin Used For
Bitcoin offers a worldwide payment system and anybody can send or receive payments via bitcoins from any part of the globe. It is a peer to peer network in which people can send or receive bitcoins without the involvement of an intermediary body to settle transactions.
Miners solve complex computational problems to settle transactions, confirm them and add them to the blocks. When these blocks are added to the blockchain, bitcoins come into existence.
Bitcoin’s blockchain is a digital ledger and it uses cryptography to make the network highly secure. Transactions need multiple confirmations which further enhance the security of the network. All the transactions are recorded on a publicly distributed ledger. Users need Bitcoin wallets to store, send or receive bitcoins.
5 Interesting Facts about Bitcoin
1. Nobody knows the true identity of the creator of Bitcoin
The creator of the Bitcoin is still unknown. He is known by a Pseudonym, Satoshi Nakamoto. An Australian computer scientist, Craig Wright claimed that he is Satoshi Nakamoto. However, the evidence provided by him proved to be flawed.
2. Bitcoin cannot be shut down
The Bitcoin decentralized ledger works outside the traditional banking system and the government doesn’t control it. However, it’s hard for any government in the world to enforce completely banning it because of this, but they can regulate it. The reality is that you just need a bitcoin wallet, which is nothing, but a sequence of characters and an Internet connection to use bitcoins.
3. Only 21 million Bitcoins will ever be available
Unlike fiat currencies that can be printed by the treasury and central banks, the supply of bitcoins is limited to 21 million. The limit of 21 million bitcoins is expected to be reached by approx 2040. This hard limit is considered a critical factor for keeping demand for bitcoin increasing and high.
4. Bitcoin transactions are irreversible
Unlike credit card transactions or bank transactions, bitcoin transactions cannot be reversed even if it involves a fraudulent act.
5. In 2010, two pizzas were exchanged for 10,000 bitcoins
Laszlo Hanyecz purchased two Papa John pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins in 2010. It was the first time in history when Bitcoins were used as money. Today 10,000 bitcoin at US$20,000 per Bitcoin is valued at US$200M – expensive pizza by anyone’s standards!
In summary, Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are the currency of the digital age and they have the power to bring the entire population of the world onto a single digital ledger to settle payments. They work outside the traditional banking system and support transparency. That’s why they have been very popular among digital currency enthusiasts all over the globe since their inception.
