- The first Bitcoin purchase was for pizza.
Did you know why May 22 is celebrated as Bitcoin Pizza Day?
Initially, when bitcoins were mined they were virtually worthless as it cost literally cents to buy a BTC.
But it was until 22 May 2010, when someone purchased something with bitcoins.
Seven years ago on this day, someone bought Piazzas with bitcoins and this purchase was a big deal because no retailer was accepting bitcoins at that time for goods and services.
On 22 May 2010, two Papa John’s Pizzas were exchanged by Laszlo Hanyecz for 10,000 BTC. This was the first official documented purchase of goods using bitcoins.
At that time, the worth of 10,000 BTC was $41.
At the time of writing this article, the worth of 10,000 BTC is around $25.8 million
- The inventor of Bitcoin is a mystery.
Yes, that’s correct! The inventor of Bitcoin is still unknown.
Since the inception of Bitcoin in 2009, there have been several speculations about who the father of Bitcoin is.
The Bitcoin whitepaper was made open to the public under the pseudonym of Satoshi Nakamoto. The identity of “Satoshi” is still a mystery yet to be solved.
Amidst this confusion, there are some people like Craig Wright, an Australian entrepreneur, who in May 2016 claimed to be the inventor of Bitcoin. However, this guy, later on, turned out to be just another scammer. He with his partner tried to pump a forked version of Bitcoin called Bitcoin cash and made a lot of innocent users lose their hard earned money. None the less, he bought a Limbo with all the scam money
- Bitcoin is untraceable & Bitcoin is NOT untraceable.
When making Bitcoin transactions, your name/identity is not used in any form. Only your public address is available.
But…
The Bitcoin blockchain is a permanent ledger which is transparent. If anyone knows your Bitcoin public address, they can see how many bitcoins you hold and what transactions you have made.
It’s how the FBI was able to bust the owner of Silk Road.
If users of Bitcoin want to hide their public address or IP, it can be done by using services like Bitmixer.io or a VPN.
That said, this just makes it difficult to trace; difficult, but not impossible.
- If you lose your Bitcoin private key, you lose your bitcoins.
James Howells, an IT guy, lost 7,500 bitcoins in November 2013. While he was cleaning his desk at home, he threw away his hard disk containing the private keys of bitcoins which he had mined in 2010.
The realization dawned on him when he read news of a Norweigan man who made a fortune by buying BTC at a low price.
He searched and searched, but could not find his hard disk.
At present, the worth of 7,500 BTC is approximately $19.4 million.
Without the private key, the funds are lost forever no one can use them.
Until this point in time, it is estimated that around 25% of all bitcoins have been forever lost.
- Bitcoins don’t grow on trees.
Just like money, bitcoins also don’t grow on trees.
But unlike traditional paper money, you can’t touch, feel, or print bitcoin.
Bitcoins are mined on the blockchain network, and they come into existence when miners successfully mine Bitcoin blocks.
At present, the mining power of Bitcoin’s network is 300 times more powerful than the world’s top 5 supercomputers combined.
- There will only ever be 21 million bitcoins.
Bitcoin’s supply is finite.
There will only ever be 21 million bitcoins.
At present, 16.3 million have already been mined and are being traded. The last bitcoin will be mined in 2140. After that, no new bitcoins can be mined.
- You can buy a lot of stuff with Bitcoin.
People always ask what you can buy with bitcoins.
But the real question should be:
What can’t you buy with bitcoins?
Here are just a few of the goods and services offered:
Coffee at Starbucks
Funeral items in the US
Space travel with Virgin Galatic
Order food with Bitcoin
E-commerce with Purse.io
Book a flight for BTC
Buy a Tesla Car
- Since 2008, Bitcoin has consistently been making a profit (except for 1 year).
Year Price at the Start of Year Price at the end of Year Growth in %
2010 $0.0015 $0.31 20566%
2011 $0.31 $6.18 1893.5%
2012 $6.18 $13.44 117.5%
2013 $13.44 $751 5487.8%
2015 $285 $435.7 52.8%
2016 $435.7 $952.5 118.5%
2017 $952.5 $2586 (To date) 171.57%
Yes, I deliberately missed one year: 2014. In that year, Bitcoin prices plummeted, incurring a 62% loss to investors.
That happened mostly because of the MtGox hack in 2014. After that, the price dropped from $751 to $285.
The fear of a blockchain hack engulfed investors, but it was not the blockchain which was compromised. MtGox had several fatal and exploitable flaws.
But every other year, the price of Bitcoin has steadily increased.
- Bitcoin can’t be banned.
Due to the nature of Bitcoin, there is constant talk about “banning” it. This hostility towards Bitcoin is because it works outside the jurisdiction of the traditional banking system.
However, the fundamental design is such that it can’t be banned, only regulated. As long as you have an internet connection and a Bitcoin wallet, you can engage in Bitcoin.
Nevertheless, many countries have tried to ban it, like Bangladesh, Bolivia, Thailand, and Vietnam (among many others). But there are some countries like Australia, Russia, Japan, and Venezuela which have made Bitcoin an official legal tender and are regulating it.
However, some countries like India and even the USA are unclear of their official policy regarding cryptocurrencies.
Try as they might, Bitcoin can’t be pushed away just because it threatens the financial power structure. This is the real beauty of Bitcoin.
Facts You Need To Know About Bitcoin
Bitcoin is considered by many as the most revolutionary breakthrough of the 21st century after the internet.
Numerous cryptocurrencies have come and left after Bitcoin. Some called themselves “rivals of Bitcoin” while some complemented Bitcoin.
This is proof that Bitcoin and the blockchain are here to stay.
one more thing
Some experts think that Bitcoin is the “people’s currency,” destined to replace national currencies, one day. Others think the digital currency a “fraud” and a “tulip bulb.” What does the average American know and think about Bitcoin?
Some Americans never heard of it. Others heard of it, but they either think it is illegal or they are unsure about its legality. And only a small fraction had ever owned the digital currency—mostly the younger generations.
That’s according to a just published survey by LendEDU. This means that Bitcoin has a long way to go before it crosses the “tipping point,” from being an exotic product for “innovators and “early adopters” to a currency for the mass market.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin has been driving cryptocurrencies sharply higher over the last twenty-four hours higher, crossing the $4,000 mark, again
Here are five key findings:
78.50% of Americans have heard of Bitcoin.
Of those who have heard of Bitcoin, 11% of Americans answered that owning Bitcoin is illegal in the U.S., while another 48% were unsure of Bitcoin’s legality
Of those who have heard of Bitcoin, only 14% have ever owned it, 40% were open to the idea of using it in the future and another 34% were undecided about buying Bitcoin in the future
Of those who have heard of Bitcoin, there were consistent age trends: In a near perfect correlation, as Americans got older they were less likely to have ever owned Bitcoin or be planning to invest in it in the future
These results are much better than those of a Bloomberg poll published back in December 2013, which showed that only 42 percent of Americans were aware of the digital currency.
And that’s good news for the future of Bitcoin. "If our poll is any indication, the future will bring growth for Bitcoin.” Michael Brown Research Analyst, LendEDU. “Not only was there a direct age correlation, where young American consumers were much more likely to say that have either owned Bitcoin, or were open to using it for future transactions when compared to their older counterparts. But, across all ages, consumers showed more of a willingness to investing in Bitcoin for the future. For example, 85.37% of respondents said they have never owned Bitcoin, but only 54.58% said they were not planning on investing in the virtual currency in the future."
Still, the LendEDU results should be interpreted with great caution, as they are based on a very small sample.
Bitcoin is a fickle thing. As one U.S. Senator recently admitted, it confuses “the heck out of us.” If you still don’t quite fully “get it,” you’re far from alone.
Ok, so by now most people -- fine, maybe only a few -- understand that Bitcoin is virtual cash that’s generated (“mined”) by computers, lives on the internet and is used to purchase real and digital stuff online and in person.
But where exactly did it come from and why is it suddenly in the news so often? Is Bitcoin really the future of money? If so, what can you buy with it right now?
Bitcoin users can purchase thousands of legal items on the straight and narrow with the controversial cryptocurrency, like tickets to a Sacramento Kings Game, fresh beef in Australia or even tuition for the University of Nicosia. And before the takedown of Silk Road, people reportedly swapped bitcoins for countless shady illegal goods, including dime bags of weed, stolen guns, forged documents and possibly even hitman services. Creepy, right?
The more we know about the curious currency, the weirder it gets.
For an entertaining yet educational eyeful of just how bizarre the Bitcoin story is, from its mysterious beginnings to its rise as a kind of, almost, on the brink of mainstream currency around the globe today, take a look at the revealing infographic below from WhoIsHostingThis.com.