blog posts

Lets understand some Essential Facts of Bitcoins

Who created Bitcoin?

Although Satoshi Nakamoto has been credit with developing Bitcoins in 2009, we know that most certainly this is a pseudonym for a single person or a group of people who were working on the idea. Nakamoto vanished from the Internet back in 2011, leaving only a few clues as to who he/they might be.

Over the years, there were many people who have publicly came out as Satoshi. However, most of them failed to support their statements with solid facts.

Dorian Nakamoto from California was given the title of Bitcoin “creator” by a journalist who thought that there were many similarities between the two Nakamotos. This claim was disprove by Dorian, though.

Probably the most well-known case of someone claiming to be Satoshi is that of Craig S. Wright, an Australian academic. He has tried multiple times to provide evidence, however, hasn’t been successful to this day. All the “proof” turned out to be fabricate.

How many Bitcoins are there?

There’s a fact about Bitcoin you should know. There’s a limited amount of Bitcoins. When Bitcoin was found, the creator of the cryptocurrency only made 21 million. Right now, over 16 million are in circulation, however, more are being mine every day.

 If We lose our private key (Bitcoin wallet), we lose our Bitcoins ?

You store your Bitcoins in a digital wallet. You can log in and check your balance. One thing, though, you have to be very careful when it comes to storing your password and key, which is what allows you to access your digital Bitcoin wallet. If you lose this access, you’ll lose access to your Bitcoin wallet and the amount you have inside.

It’s thought that around 20% of the entire Bitcoin supply is ‘lost’, primarily due to misplaced or stolen keys, or laptops or computers that have been discarded.

Transactions can’t be reverse like before

More conventional forms of payment, such as bank transfer, can be tracked and, if needed, reverse. This isn’t the case with Bitcoin. Once the money has been sent, you can’t recoup it. It’s vital, therefore, that you double-check the address you’re sending the funds to.

Bitcoin has been sent to space

In 2016, the cryptocurrency became the first to make it out of the Earth’s atmosphere and into space. Cloud provider Genesis Mining tied a Bitcoin paper wallet and a 3D model of Bitcoin to a weather balloon, using a GoPro to track its progress. Successful transactions were carry out at 20 and 34 kilometres altitude.

A unit of Bitcoin is called a ‘Satoshi byte’

Just as dollars can be divide into cents and pounds into pence, Bitcoins also have their own denominations, but they’re much smaller. Named after the mysterious inventor of the cryptocurrency, 1 Satoshi byte is worth 0.00000001 Bitcoin, a tiny amount!

The sender/receiver details are hidden

Bitcoin addresses are a long string composed of 34 alphanumeric characters. Just by using this address it’s impossible to know who’s the recipient. That’s one of the main reasons why Bitcoin is a preferred method of conducting illegal transactions. Most wallet programs also assign each user a portfolio ID, used as a username, to further protect the privacy of the senders/receivers.

Bitcoin is very volatile

Bitcoin is highly volatile. The world’s largest digital currency has surely generated a great return for some investors. However, Bitcoin has a highly volatile nature which undermines its ability to function as a proper currency. Predictions have also been made that Bitcoin might fall in the future if it follows its current path.

Market analysis has pointed out numerous factors that can explain why bitcoin is so volatile. Those include news events, market size, inequality of wealth, regulation, low liquidity and more.

You can use Bitcoin to purchase stuff!?.!

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are frequently use on the black market due to their anonymity. However, note that it’s not just use on the black market. Dell, Microsoft, Expedia, Overstock.com and more big companies accept Bitcoin as a legitimate payment. Several other high street chains now accept Bitcoin payment, including Subway and KFC (in Canada), while Bitcoin has become increasingly popular in third world countries among people who don’t have access to traditional banks.

In time, more and more places will likely allow the use of Bitcoin and will even offer payment in Bitcoins.

While many people have been attracted to cryptocurrency trading as a way to make a fast buck, it has started to receive mainstream recognition as a way to pay for products and services.

Bitcoin creates a lot of energy and power

Bitcoin mining is a big business and it requires vast amounts of computer processing power. Various estimates of just how much CO2 it uses equate to around one million transatlantic flights, or the equivalent of the energy output of the Republic of Ireland, New Zealand, Hungary or Peru.

Basically, if Bitcoin miners were a country, they would rank 61st in the world in terms of electricity consumption. It has been said that around 2.5 million people could be powered by Bitcoin mining and this is something we have to consider in the future.

While Bitcoin has undoubtedly disrupted the technology sector in recent years, its incredibly wasteful process needs to be improved.

Bitcoin mining process serves two purposes:

• It allows the creation of new Bitcoins
• Facilitates the processing of transactions in the network

You Should make account for Bitcoin on your taxes

Regulations for Bitcoin are in fact still in the making, however, the U.S. government has declared that Bitcoin – as well as other cryptocurrencies – are in fact capital assets, just like bonds and stocks. Keep in mind that if you don’t account for the Bitcoins you are in possession of, you could be on the hook for tax evasion.

Make sure you double-check the laws in your country and follow them correctly.

Conclusion

To sum it up, Bitcoin should definitely be consider as one of the 21st century’s biggest technological breakthroughs.

Everyone has heard of it, participate in a discussion about it or is interest in being part of the Bitcoin community. That’s why we, at Trading Education, thought it’s beneficial for everyone to know and be familiar with the Bitcoin facts on our sheet.

With the rise of Bitcoin, the Financial landscape of the world has surely changed a lot and with it, the traditional financial models and the way people think about money.

The Essential; Facts we listed on our Bitcoin fact sheet are just the beginning. The world of Bitcoin is complex and for the majority of people, it will be a little bit hard to understand. However, we believe that these unbelievable Bitcoin facts will somehow clear up a few important and interesting aspects of Bitcoin for many of you.

No one knows where the cryptocurrency will take us next…