Bitcoin is a virtual currency based on blockchain technology, and it has gained massive popularity all over the world in the past few years. Its enormous market value has induced everyone to invest in bitcoins, but most of them don’t have proper knowledge about this modern currency.
There is a significant difference between bitcoin cash and bitcoin as captured on bitcoin cash vs bitcoin. There are several unknown facts about bitcoins, and you must know about all of them before using them. Some of the most surprising facts about bitcoins are as follows.
Limited supply
Bitcoin is an incredible cryptocurrency, and its popularity is increasing at a rapid pace all over the world. It also has a massive market value, but one of the biggest reasons behind its high price is a limited supply. Most bitcoin users are not aware of the fact that bitcoin’s supply is limited. Any government authority does not issue it; instead, bitcoins are created through a unique process known as bitcoin mining. It is the process of solving complex mathematic problems and adding new blocks to the blockchain.
There are only 21 million bitcoins that can ever be mined which makes the supply of bitcoins limited. Out of 21 million, around 17 million has already been mined, and the rest of the bitcoins will be mined by 2140. Once all the bitcoins are mined, no new bitcoin would be issued in the market. It is a unique thing that makes bitcoin different from other currencies in the market.
Founder of bitcoin is unknown
Bitcoin is the most popular and valuable cryptocurrency in the world. It has been more than ten years since its launch, but you will be shocked to know that to date, no one knows about the real founder of bitcoins. The creator of bitcoin is still a mystery as only a name is associated with it, which is Satoshi Nakamoto. But no one has seen or met Satoshi in real life. Taking advantage of this confusion, several people have claimed to be the founder of bitcoin, but no one has been able to prove their claim to be true. Satoshi Nakamoto is not only the name that is related to the founder of bitcoins, but he also owns the most bitcoins. His wallet holds more than 980000 bitcoins which makes him the wealthiest person in the world if he is alive.
You cannot afford to lose the private keys
Bitcoin is a digital currency, so it is stored in a digital locker termed a bitcoin wallet. Every bitcoin wallet has a unique private key, and it can only be accessed through that key. It is highly important to store the private keys safely because if you lose them, you will also lose access to your wallet forever. In the year 2013, a person lost over 7500 bitcoins only because the hard disk in which has had stores private keys got misplaced. So, if you are using bitcoins, you must be careful and store private keys offline. It is the safest way to store it, and for some additional security, you can also create few backups so that in case it gets misplaced, you could recover it using the backup.
Bitcoin’s smallest unit
One bitcoin is worth a lot of money, and it is the primary reason that most people are unable to afford it. But if you have proper knowledge about bitcoins, you can own some of them without investing a massive amount of money. It is not necessary to purchase a whole bitcoin as you can also buy its portion, which is known as Satoshi. Satoshi is the smallest unit of bitcoin, and if we compare it with the dollar, one dollar is equal to 15800 satoshis. So, even if you are not on a tight budget, you can always buy some satoshis. To make one bitcoin, you will have to buy around one hundred million satoshis.
Bitcoin network is faster than a supercomputer
Most people wouldn’t believe this, but is it true that the bitcoin network is faster than the world most powerful supercomputer. The Summit is the world’s fastest supercomputer which works at the speed of 122.3 petaflops. If we talk about the bitcoin network, it has a total processing power of 80704290 petaflops which way more than the supercomputer.