By now, we’ve all heard about cryptocurrencies, one of the undisputed trends of today.
However, even the most ardent crypto experts will be surprised by some of these bizarre but fun facts about digital money around which the new financial revolution revolves.
So, let’s get started…
1. The majority of mined Bitcoins have never been used
Roughly, 17 million bitcoins, which is the strongest and most popular cryptocurrency in the world, have been mined or created, so far. Of that number, 64% have never been used.
A large portion of these bitcoins is likely lost forever because, among other reasons, owners misplaced their “wallet keys”. So, their bitcoins will never be used. More about that later.
All in all, although there are 21 million bitcoins in the circulation for miners to dig them out, the actual number out there is probably millions less than that.
2. More than $30 billion of Bitcoin value was lost
Let’s expand the fun fact No. 1. Over more than 30 billion US dollars of Bitcoin value was lost forever because the owners couldn’t remember the private key to their Bitcoin wallet.
Unlike banks where, if the pin code is lost, funds can be accessed in other ways, with Bitcoin this isn’t possible due to the nature of blockchain. This is because one of its main features is the elimination of intermediaries in financial transactions.
Countless cases have been reported where people lost the paper with a written private key number or couldn’t recover it from a broken USB. With that, they irretrievably lost all their valuable bitcoins.
3. China is the world leader for mining
China is the undisputed leader in Bitcoin mining as it owns more than 70% of the total Bitcoin pool. Not only does it produce most of the equipment for digging cryptocurrencies, but also large mining buildings are located in China, using the advantage of very cheap electricity, necessary for finding digital money.
However, given that the Chinese government doesn’t look favourably on activities related to cryptocurrencies, the question is whether China will remain a leader in this field in the near future or not.
4. The majority of wealthiest countries adopted cryptocurrencies as legitimate
After the G20 summit at the end of 2018, i.e. meeting of leaders from the governments of 19 countries and the European Union, 11 countries adopted cryptocurrencies as legitimate, 3 countries remained neutral on this issue, while 4 countries restricted the use of cryptocurrencies. Only China has completely banned the trade in digital money.
As a result of this world meeting, the percentage of countries that approved cryptocurrencies was 57 %.
5. The first good bought with Bitcoin was pizza
May 22 is also called Bitcoin Pizza Day because, on that day in 2018, Bitcoin was used for the first time to buy some goods. A man named Laszlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 BTC (which was $ 40 at the time).
We just hope that the pizza was extremely tasty because, considering that today’s value of 10,000 bitcoins would be more than $ 80 million dollars, it’s certainly the most expensive ever. It depicts in the best way that the price of this cryptocurrency fluctuates. However, there are platforms to track Bitcoin price live.
6. The video game became the most bizarre blockchain project
The most bizarre blockchain project is called CryptoKitties, a video game developed by the Canadian company Axiom Zen. The project allows players to breed, buy, and sell virtual cats and represents one of the first attempts to apply blockchain technology to the entertainment industry.
The Chinese company Baidu has also launched a similar game, Leci Gou, where players breed dogs instead of cats.
7. More than 2,000 cryptocurrencies exist
The number of existing cryptocurrencies is currently more than 2,000. New cryptocurrencies are created every day, but the fact is that many of them won’t take more than a few months.
While Bitcoin is still the most successful and popular cryptocurrency, it’s followed by Ripple, Ethereum, Lumen, EOS, Litecoin, Tether, Cardano, Monero, TRON, Dash, and others.
8. The largest amount in a single Bitcoin wallet is owned by the FBI
The intelligence and security service of the United States, the FBI, is the owner of the largest Bitcoin wallet. It’s an innovative software program that enables the storage of bitcoins with maximum technical precision, as well as security via a private key or a secret number that accesses bitcoins. It’s also possible to send or receive bitcoins through the wallet, that is, to perform BTC transactions.
Although its mysterious founder Satoshi Nakamoto is thought to own the largest number of bitcoins scattered across various Bitcoin wallets, the FBI is thought to own the largest amount in a single Bitcoin wallet.
