Bitcoin Facts That Shock And Surprise

Bitcoin (BTC) is one of the most popular cryptocurrencies in the world that is becoming more common resulting in people thinking they know it all. Despite Bitcoin becoming more common, there are some aspects that are less known and might be more surprising than you think. 

One of the biggest problems with Bitcoin isn’t hacking but investors losing the funds or access to digital wallets. Bitcoin is managed using a digital wallet and losing access to the wallet can result in some investors losing their Bitcoin forever. 

The crypto data firm, Chainalysis, reports 20% of Bitcoin is stuck in inaccessible wallets that total 3.76 million BTC valued at approximately $190 billion. The most common occurrence is people forgetting their login credentials but there are some cases in which large amounts are lost or unused. 

If you lose the password to your Bitcoin wallet, there is no “forgot password” option to retrieve the account and can be lost forever. The creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, is reported to own 1.1 million BTC and is expected to never touch this Bitcoin account. 

Losing access to a Bitcoin account can occur when investors pass away and don’t share access to their Bitcoin. One way to avoid this is to opt for a hardware crypto wallet to store the assets offline in a physical form. 

This option still has risks but cannot be retrieved if lost. You might have seen some news regarding this with one case of a man from the U.K. who claimed to have lost their hardware crypto wallet containing 7,500 BTC valued approximately at $380 million. If you want to keep your investment, you better keep your login information and hardware crypto wallet.

Since its founding in 2009, there have been over 660 million Bitcoin transactions and this figure continues to grow. As of 2021, there was an average of over 265,000 transactions daily that fluctuates depending on blockchain trends.  

Some governments and nations worldwide don’t recognize cryptocurrency while others are embracing this new form of money. In 2021, El Salvador became the first country to accept Bitcoin as a legal currency. 

The government of El Salvador started this program promising citizens $30 for opening a digital wallet. This idea might be progressive, but citizens have protested the whole plan while the World Bank refuses to help implement this due to transparency and environmental concerns. 

Bitcoin is known for most online transactions but has been used in real-world transactions. The first commercial Bitcoin transaction was made in 2010 by Laszlo Hanyecz paying 10,000 BTC or $41 at the time for two Papa John’s pizzas. With modern-day inflation, 10,000 BTC is worth over $500 million.

Entrepreneur Brock Pierce was the first person to take out a 100% crypto-based mortgage buying a renovated chapel in Amsterdam for 3 million BTC. This trend is continuing to emerge in the U.S. as United Wholesale Mortgage is working towards accepting cryptocurrencies as mortgage payments. 

Bitcoin might seem limitless but the last Bitcoin will be mined in 2140 and only 21 million Bitcoin can ever be produced that are built into the coin’s code. The approximate circulating supply stands at over 18,925,000 BTC and as mentioned above some of this is already lost. 

With Bitcoin mining, the number of Bitcoins that can be mined is cut in half every four years and nearly 90% of total Bitcoin is already in circulation. At the current rate, it will take another 120 years to produce the remaining 2.2 million coins and the last amount of Bitcoin is set to be mined in 2140.