110 Interesting Facts You Need to Know About Bitcoin

Bitcoin is a well-known virtual currency, which is also the first decentralized peer-to-peer payment network. This completely digital form of money is also called "cash for the Internet" and there is no central authority, which exercises its control over bitcoin. So, users of this cryptocurrency can make transactions directly with their peers.

Just like the interest that it has already aroused in the existing users of bitcoins, this cryptocurrency has been successful in creating its place in the minds of prominent people, who also feel that in future, this digital cash mode will be the revolutionary one and with this thought, they have made their share of investment. Moreover, several countries have also accepted this currency mode as a legal mode of payment, thereby giving it a much-accepted status. However, it remains to be seen what heights this cryptocurrency is able to scale in times to come.

Whether you are someone who has just heard about bitcoin and is doing their research to find out more about this virtual currency or someone who is looking for newer and interesting things about bitcoin, look no further as here we present 100 interesting facts you need to know about bitcoin.

1. Founder of bitcoin remains to be a mysterious legend

The founder of bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, remains to be a mysterious legend as nothing much is known about the inventor of this digital cash till date. It is not known whether it is a single person or a group of people who founded this cryptocurrency, which is changing how people use money today. Way back in 2009, the bitcoin software was released as an open source code and the first block on the chain was mined by Nakamoto. This first block is called the genesis block.

2. First cryptocurrency

Today, we are all talking about cryptocurrency and its impact on how people view and use the money. But, it was Nakamoto, who conceptualize this cryptocurrency, which is also the first one to be introduced. Bitcoin was developed on the concept of cryptography and the ledger that records its distribution is the blockchain. Studies conducted at the University of Cambridge suggest that the year 2017 saw 2.9 to 5.8 million users using digital cash of which a majority used bitcoins.

3. Bitcoin is controlled by its users, not by any single entity

Bitcoin defies the general notion that we have about money or currency. This is because this digital currency is not controlled by a bank or any single financial institute, unlike other currencies of this world. Rather, it is controlled by all the users of this virtual currency, through software that validates the users and their activities all over the world. Moreover, the value of bitcoin is not based on the global market, unlike any other currency that is used across the globe.

4. The 10 minute settlement time

Bitcoin does not have any single controlling entity and it also does not require any third-party clearing house for settling transactions. All peer-to-peer payments can be settled within a time span of 10 minutes. This time span is much lesser than that of credit cards, which may take weeks or even months for the final settlement to be through.

5. No inherent value

A 100 dollar bill is said to be worth "$100" because we know it has such value. Otherwise, if you take a look at the 100 dollar bill, it is simply a piece of paper with several symbols, pictures, and text written on it. Similar is the case with bitcoins. We know it has value as that is what people say. However, the difference between currency and bitcoin lies in the fact that that digital pieces of code do not have a particular set inherent value, unlike other currency. The value of bitcoins is directly proportional to its popularity and with increased popularity; the value of bitcoin will increase.

6. Not infinite Bitcoins

The non-existence of bills or coins may give out the impression that there are infinite bitcoins out there. But in reality, there is actually a finite number of bitcoins and the number stands at exactly 21 million. The reason behind keeping the number of bitcoins limited is to make each coin much more valuable. Infinite bitcoins will undoubtedly lessen the value of each bitcoin and make it much lesser in value than it should be.

7. Limitation on Bitcoin production

As we just mentioned, the number of bitcoins is limited to the 21 million. Of this number, till date, approximately 12 million bitcoins have already been produced at a rate of 3600 new bitcoins being produced each day. So, with the upper limit fixed at 21 million, it is estimated that the year 2140 will see the production of the last bitcoins.

8. Transparency

An exclusive aspect of bitcoin is the transparency in the transaction and the amounts. Every detail related to the transaction is visible to everyone within the bitcoin community. This openness ensures that all the details are out there in the open and it also builds the trust aspect within the community. This openness also builds a sense of security. However, it must be noted that this transparency or openness is applicable only for the transactions and the amounts involved. No details related to personal data is divulged, states The Fact Site.

9. No option of reversing transaction

Another integral feature of bitcoin is that no transaction can be reversed or revoked. In case you are paying for a product or service using your bitcoins, you can never revoke the transaction and stop the transaction. Similarly, if you are to receive payment, the transaction using bitcoins cannot be canceled. So, no transaction can be reversed and neither can it be canceled. Similarly, you can also not be forced to pay twice for a bill.

10. Negligible fees for sending money

It is a known fact that sending money to a friend, your family or to anyone who is in another part of the world will attract high fees in the form of transfer fees, currency conversion fees or in the name of any other fees, imposed by the banks or the financial institutes, who are facilitating the transfer. Along with the high fees, the time required to make the transfer is also high as it will surely take a few days before the transfer has been successfully made. However, it is not the same in case of bitcoins. This is because the fees associated with the transfer of bitcoins is very little or zero. And the best part is that the transfer will be made within 10 minutes, which is equivalent to instant transfer!

11. Mining Bitcoins

The meaning of mining bitcoins is solving mathematical problems, using the computer program. These mathematical problems are related to the verification of transactions that have been made across the globe. And as remuneration, a certain number of bitcoins are paid to the miners after they have solved the problem. This is how the process of bitcoin mining works.

12. Digital wallets for bitcoins

Special digital wallets are used to hold the bitcoins. These digital wallets resemble the online bank account that we access to view our balance and also to make transactions. And, just like you need your credentials to access your online bank account, for bitcoins as well, you need to sign up to the bitcoin wallet, which holds all your bitcoin balance. This digital wallet is similar to your physical wallet; however, it is much more secure as no one can take money out of your digital wallet until and unless you wish to make the payment yourself.

13. Loss of digital wallet means, bitcoins lost forever

If you ever lose your digital wallet, your bitcoins will be lost forever. It is not that someone can take money out of your wallet, but loss of a digital wallet implies loss of all the bitcoins that the wallet held. This is because each bitcoin has a special key, which is unique. So, if a wallet is lost, the bitcoins will still have its existence. However, if the bitcoins are lost within a wallet, then it is removed from the circulation. This removal of bitcoin is a permanent procedure and thus, with your digital wallet lost, you will lose your bitcoins forever.

14. Use bitcoins to buy real things

Though bitcoins are digital cash, you can actually use this form of cryptocurrency to purchase real things at physical stores or at online stores. It is true that all stores will not accept this currency in the form of payment, but there are several stores, both physical and also online, that accepts bitcoins as payments for things sold. These stores range from hotels, jewelry stores, to pizzeria, restaurants and a lot more. Some of the popular brand names that accept bitcoins as payment includes Dell, Microsoft and many more. Moreover, your bitcoins can also help you to buy bullion gold and also make donations.

15. First bitcoin transaction

After bitcoin came into existence in the month of January in 2009, the first transaction involving the use of bitcoin was made to Hal Finney. Finney was a programmer and one who supported and also adopted this new medium of transaction. It was on the same day of the software launch that Finney downloaded it and received 10 bitcoins, which is touted to be the first bitcoin transaction to have taken place.

16. First breach of bitcoin protocol

More than a year later after the launch of the bitcoin software, a major protocol breach of bitcoin was detected. It came to light that without proper verification of the transactions, they were being included in the blockchain. This was a major setback as it was contradicting bitcoin's economic limitations. Within a couple of days, this setback was exploited to the fullest as more than 184 billion bitcoins were generated in a transaction and were sent to two addresses. This creation of an unlimited number of bitcoins had the network taking things in their hands as it was within hours that the transaction was spotted and removed from the transaction log. After the bug was fixed, an updated version of the protocol was reinstated immediately.

17. Bitcoins to purchase Pizza

Bitcoins can be used to purchase real things. During the initial days, the valuation of the transactions was negotiated by individuals, who were a part of the bitcoin community through the bitcointalk forums. The year 2010, saw a noteworthy transaction taking place as two pizzas were purchased using bitcoins. Both the pizzas were valued at 10,000 bitcoins at that time. The pizzas were bought from Papa John, in the month of May.

18. Fabulous blockchain design

The blockchain, which is the ledger recording all the transactions is fabulously designed. All transactions are recorded in the network with the help of software applications. A new transaction group (which has been accepted), or a block, as it is often referred to, can be created six times per hour. This includes the creation, the addition of the transaction to the blockchain, as well as, the publication of the block to all the nodes. Another aspect of this blockchain design is that it helps to regulate the bitcoin amount spent and also keep a tab on double spending.

19. Conditions for spending bitcoins

Bitcoins are registered to the bitcoin addresses, which can be created within seconds, using a random private key that is valid and then calculating the bitcoin address. But the reverse process, which is finding the valid private key from the bitcoin address, is not possible. So, making the bitcoin address publicly known does not pose a threat to the private key. Additionally, to spend bitcoins, it is required that the owner of the bitcoin knows the private key and also digitally signs the transaction. It is only after the network has verified the signature using the public key that the transaction will be approved.

20. Private key, the only proof of ownership

The private key is the only proof of ownership that the bitcoin network recognizes. If in any case, the private key is lost, then the bitcoins will become unusable and it is equivalent to have lost the coin. So, it is important that the private key is kept in a safe and secure place. Notably in an incident in the year 2013 saw one user, by the name of James Howells, claiming that he has lost 7500 bitcoins after he mistakenly discarded a hard drive that contained his private key. At that time, the bitcoins were valued at $7.5 million! This situation could have been easily avoided had the user kept a backup of his private key.

21. Winners and losers at the same time

The possession of bitcoins is nothing less than having a small fortune. So, those possessing bitcoins are nothing less than winners. But, it is the same bitcoins that made them losers too. Let us take the example of James Howells once again. He possessed bitcoins but from being a winner he became a loser after he accidentally threw the hard drive where the coins were stored. Similarly, a Bloomberg journalist became a clear winner after getting a bitcoin on live television. This happened in the month of December in the year, 2013. Sadly enough, the journalist revealed the private key of the bitcoin wallet mistakenly and it was stolen by a viewer almost immediately, thereby making the journalist a loser.

22. Founder holds bitcoins worth $1.1 billion

Satoshi Nakamoto, the founder of bitcoins is said to hold 1 million bitcoins. Today, the value of these bitcoins stands at $1.1 billion, which is a whopping amount. And, with time, it will only increase considering the current trends and the rising popularity of cryptocurrency.

23. Huge bitcoin network consumes immense electricity

The mining of bitcoin requires an immense amount of electricity. It is said that the amount of electricity that the bitcoin network consumes is equivalent to the amount of electricity that may power 1.3 million homes. The network has also been criticized for its huge electricity consumption, used by the bitcoin miners. In its effort to reduce the electricity usage and also its cost, the bitcoin network has set up places where geothermal energy is cheap, like in Iceland or in places where hydroelectricity power is free, like in Austria, Tibet, to name a few.

24. Energy consumption of one bitcoin transaction

Do you know how much energy a bitcoin transaction consumes? Well, it is 3,994 times the energy that a credit card transaction consumes. This figure completely justifies the criticism around the huge energy consumption of bitcoin, in spite of the fact that it has made efforts in reducing its electricity usage.

25. Shit Load of Money

In the largest Bitcoin transaction, the year 2013 saw bitcoins transactions taking place, worth $147 million. In today's market, the value of the bitcoins stand at $174 million, this is approximately 1.6 percent of the total bitcoins that have been in circulation. Considering the huge amount of the transaction, it was tagged as "Shit load of money," states Kickassfacts.

26. Silk Road

Ross William Ulbricht (aka Dread Pirate Roberts) used to run an online black market by the name of Silk Road. This online black market used bitcoin as the primary source of currency. The FBI launched an operation for getting hold of the data and in their attempt to obtain the data, two FBI agents posed as a couple quarreling. The motive here was to distract Dread Pirate Roberts and copy the data from his computer. The FBI wanted a copy of the data before it was removed or deleted.

27. FBI's Bitcoin wallet

The FBI also maintains a bitcoin wallet! The wallet comprises of all the bitcoins that the FBI has seized from different sources. After the arrest of Ross William Ulbricht, the person behind Silk Road, all his Bitcoins were confiscated. This addition of Ulbricht's funds to the FBI's wallet made FBI the holder of the largest wallet of bitcoins in the world.

28. Darknet Shopper

Interestingly enough, there is a bot that poses as a random darknet shopper. The bot purchases random items and then puts the items on display at art exhibitions. The bot generally has a budget of $100 bitcoins, which it uses to buy the random items.

29. Ransomware Attacks

The United States Corporations are making efforts to purchase bitcoins. The prime reason behind such efforts is the Ransomeware attacks. The year 2017 saw big corporations facing the Ransomware attack, which affected business and posed threat to the security of confidential data and information. Since the Ransomeware attack required the payments to be made in bitcoins, so, the corporations in the United States started buying bitcoins to bail themselves out in the face of such attacks.

30. Illegality aspect of Bitcoins

Bitcoins or cryptocurrency has surely been making a wave in the market in the recent times. But, till date, this digital cash form remains to be an illegal mode of making payments, in some parts of the world. This includes Bangladesh, Bolivia, Ecuador and Kyrgyzstan. Additionally, several reports also state that the popularity of this form of cryptocurrency stems from the fact that this form of currency can be used for making the purchase of illegal goods. A research conducted at the University of Kentucky also reinstate the same as per its research conclusion, the rising popularity of bitcoins is to drive illegal activities.

31. Ban and Allow

As mentioned in the previous point, bitcoin is an illegal mode of making payments in several countries. It is banned in these countries and no one can either accept payments made through bitcoins or make payments using this mode. Thailand is one exclusive country as it was the first country to ban bitcoins. But surprisingly, Thailand allowed bitcoins. So, even though bitcoins were initially banned, it was allowed back.

32. Assassination Market

The "Dark Web" houses the "Assassination Market" and the exclusive aspect of this market is that it allows a party to place a bet, stating the date of death of any individual. The bet is placed using bitcoins and if a party is successful in guessing the death date of the individual, he or she receives a payoff, which is once again in the form of bitcoins.

33. Winklevoss twin's hold 1 percent of all Bitcoins

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of popular social media platform, Facebook faced a lawsuit from Divya Narendra, and the Winklevoss twins, Cameron and Tyler, on charges of copying their idea. The lawsuit was later settled for $65 million and Facebook stocks. It is the same Winklevoss twins, who own about 1 percent of all the Bitcoins that are in existence. The twins foresaw the future of bitcoins and they started investing in this cryptocurrency at a time when the value of one bitcoin was only $9.

34. Milton Friedman's prediction

Milton Friedman is a popular economist, whose ideas are known to have changed the way that policymakers made decisions. It was way back in the late 90s that Friedman predicted about digital cash. He had said that soon "a reliable e-cash" will develop wherein using the Internet, funds from A to B will be transferred, even though both A and B would not know who the other person is. It was about 10 years after his prediction that bitcoins came into existence in the year 2009.

35. Bitcoin ATM

Surprised? Well, yes, the first bitcoin ATM was set up in the Canadian city, Vancouver. Moreover, there was a Bitcoin ATM in California too. The Bitcoin ATM was located at the Brea mall and it was operated by ZenBox. However, the ATM is no longer operational, reports Coin ATM Radar.

36. Bitcoin ATM worldwide

You may be surprised at the total number of bitcoin ATMs worldwide. The number stands at 2015! These 2015 bitcoin ATM is spread across 61 countries, and it is estimated that these are operated by over 250 operators.

37. From $0 to $1000

The value of cryptocurrency has been seeing an upward trend since the time it came into being. Bitcoins came into existence in the year 2009, when its value was nothing but zero. However, with time and with its rising popularity, it has created a place for itself as a prominent digital cash medium. And, today, the value of a bitcoin stands at approximately $1000, which is a lot considering the zero valuation at the time when it was released.

38. Jet Li's charity received donation in bitcoins

Popular Chinese actor, Jet Le runs the charitable organization "One Foundation." This organization, which was set up in 2007, is an officially recognized fundraising organization in China. It became the first Chinese organization to accept bitcoins donations after it published a donation address and it was within two days that $30,000 was received, thereby making it the most successful bitcoin donation, states BitcoinMagazine. Moreover, this also brought China's attention to the cryptocurrency, bitcoin.

39. WikiLeaks and Bitcoins

We all know about WikiLeaks, the whistleblowing website that reveals classified and secret information as well as news leaks. The year 2010 saw WikiLeaks making major leaks about the United States' diplomatic information. This made the US government force stop third-party companies from making donations to the website. Julian Assange, the founder and the editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks then resorted to accepting bitcoins as donations. Though this step made some raise an eyebrow, but, as far as WikiLeaks is concerned, since the year 2010, site donations have seen 50,000 percent return to date.

40. Donation to Wikileaks
The 4000th bitcoin was donated and the donation was made to Wikileaks. The value of the 4000th bitcoin, which was donated, stood at $3 million in the month of December of 2016 when the donation was made.

41. Forgotten fortune

How would you feel if you suddenly remember about an investment that can make you rich? Well, a guy in Norway just remembered about his investment at a time when it had become a small fortune. Christopher Koch from Norway had bought some bitcoins when its price was $27, in the year 2009. After that he simply forgot about them. But, luckily enough, he remembered it at a time when the value of his bitcoins rose to 886 thousand dollars.

42. Pay fees in Bitcoins

You heard it right! The University of Cyprus is the first university in the whole world to accept payment of fees in bitcoins. It is the only institute of higher education to accept such a mode of fee payment.

43. Bitcoin also saw slump in value

Just like other currency, bitcoin also had its exchange value seeing a downward graph. It was in the year 2013, in the month of April that the exchange value of bitcoins faced a huge drop in value. It was after the Cypriot financial crisis of 2012-13 that the price of bitcoins begun seeing an upward graph. But, the exchange value dropped from US$266 to approximately US$50, which is about 80 percent drop in the exchange value. However, the drop lasted for about 24 hours.

44. Bitcoins valued higher than gold!

The value of bitcoins rose to such heights in the month of November in 2013 that it exceeded the price of gold for the first time. It was again in the month of March in the year 2017 that the market value of an ounce of gold was surpassed by the value of bitcoins. The price of bitcoin surged to an all-time high of $1268.

45. Lamborghini accepted Bitcoins

Bitcoins were accepted as a mode of payment for cars! It was the popular car company, Lamborghini, who accepted Bitcoins as payment. It was also the first car company to accept bitcoins.

46. Manchester's bitcoin-friendly retailer

The year 2012 saw Manchester's first bitcoin-friendly retailer coming into existence. The retailer was a small corner store, which started using this cryptocurrency mode as a form of payment.

47. Berlin's bitcoin-friendly shopping arena

With the rising popularity of digital currency, Kreuzberg area of Germany's capital Berlin has a shopping arena which accepts bitcoins as a form of payment. Kreuzberg is highly concentrated with traders who accept bitcoins, rather than any other form of payment like cash or card.

48. Spanish friends invested their inherited amount in bitcoins

Two Spanish friends were pretty worried about the Spanish economy's future. They had inherited a sum of €30,000 and considering their worry about the economy, they decided to invest in bitcoins, riding on the rising popularity of this cryptocurrency. Their decision proved to be fruitful as their investment of €30,000 became double within a time span of three and a half years and their investment amount stood at €60,000, The Guardian stated in one of its reports.

49. Japan, world's most bitcoin-ready country

Amongst the world's most developed countries, Japan is most bitcoin-ready. This fact is substantiated by the fact that there are thousands of retail stores that accepts this digital currency as a payment form. Additionally, there are several bitcoin ATMs, located at the major metros of the country. The upscale shopping and dining district in Japan, Ginza is open to buyers, who wish to buy using bitcoins. So, whether you are at a coffee bar, a sushi bar or an optician, you can pay using your bitcoin wallet.

50. Bitcoins' acceptance in Japan

The year 2017 saw 300,000 stores in Japan accepting bitcoins. It is indeed a bitcoin-friendly country!

51. Bitcoin Embassy at Amsterdam

Amsterdam houses the Bitcoin Embassy, which is a community hub. It is open from Tuesday to Saturday and the visitors to this community hub includes entrepreneurs, startups, developers, investors and not to forget passerby, who want to feed their curiosity. The Bitcoin Embassy has a café, shops, and restaurants which have their own bitcoin mining rig. Additionally, the city also has its bit4coin exchange and several digital cash startups.

52. Britain's bitcoin island

Douglas, the capital of Isle of Man, Britain is a small town. Though the town has a population of 26,000, it has its own bitcoin-accepting restaurant. Originally a noodle bar, this restaurant accepts bitcoins as a mode of payment. Another factor, which makes Douglas bitcoin-friendly, is that the regulatory framework is such that people can even use cryptocurrency for gambling and for token sales. Moreover, the presence of more than 25 startups in the small island, all of which are related to bitcoins, earns it the name of Bitcoin Island, states iCenter.

53. Mel B accepted bitcoin as payment

The English pop girl group, Spice Girl was formed in the year 1994 and it has its own record of having sold the maximum number of records worldwide. The group comprised of Melanie Chisholm, Emma Bunton, Geri Halliwell, Victoria Beckham and Melanie Janine Brown. Melanie Janine Brown or Mel B as she is popularly called was the first musical artist to accept bitcoins. She accepted this digital cash as a payment for her music.

 

54. Travel to space with bitcoin

Sir Richard Branson's, commercial space flight venture, Virgin Galactic announced in the year 2013 that they would accept bitcoins as payment for reserving a space flight. The billionaire entrepreneur made the announcement himself and also added that they have already accepted payment for a flight ticket from a flight attendant in Hawaii. She was an investor in bitcoins and had earned a lot as she was amongst the early investors in the cryptocurrency. Calling bitcoins as "a new exciting currency," he acknowledged the risk but also added that one day the price will be much higher. It is indeed high today!

55. Buy an aircraft with your bitcoins

The year 2014 saw SkyCraft Airplanes making an announcement for bitcoin holders. Their website stated that they were offering aircrafts for people who wish to use their bitcoins as a form of payment. SkyCraft Airplanes was also the first aircraft company to open its arms for buyers who wish to buy aircrafts using bitcoin.

56. Bitcoin Black Friday sale

How much more exciting can it get if you are able to indulge yourself in the Black Friday sale event and that too using bitcoins! Well, the event did take place, but the only difference is that it was way back in the year 2013 that the sale took place. Interestingly enough, the Bitcoin Black Friday sale saw 200 businesses participating in the event.

57. House for Bitcoins

During the initial days, when this digital currency was introduced, users of this digital cash could purchase anything, starting from regular stuff, a cup of coffee, a pint of beer, to aircrafts and houses. In New York, a man had put up his house for sale in the year 2013. He quoted the price of $799,000 for his house and also added that he would also accept an equivalent amount of bitcoins for his house. Interesting, isn't it!

58. Lowest amount of bitcoins used each day

Can you guess the lowest amount of bitcoins that are used in transactions daily? $1000? $2000? Well, no! The minimum amount of bitcoins used each day for transactions is $200,000!

59. Bitcoin circulation exceeds Western Union

As we just mentioned that the minimum amount of bitcoin transaction every day equals $200,000. Well, this figure exceeds the transaction amount of Western Union!

60. Swapped fortune for pizza

In the year 2010, a man swapped 10,000 bitcoins for a pizza. Do you know what the value of these 10,000 bitcoins, after 3 years? Interestingly, in 2013, the value of these 10,000 bitcoins was more than $7 million.

61. Hal Finney used cryptocurrency fortune for cryogenic preservation of his body

Hal Finney was the first bitcoin receiver from the creator of this cryptocurrency, Satoshi Nakamoto. In 2009, he announced that he has been diagnosed with ALS. But, he had been saving his bitcoin fortune for the cryogenic preservation of his body. He died in the year 2014, in Pheonix. And, post his death, his body was cryptopreserved by the Alcor (Alcor Life Extension Foundation), non-profit organization that preserves corpses in liquid nitrogen.

62. Island of Alderney's Mint for bitcoin equivalent
Want the physical equivalent of bitcoins? Well, the Island of Alderney had announced its plans of minting the physical equivalent of the popular cryptocurrency, bitcoins. The small island was planning to join hands with the UK's Royal Mint, during the year 2013, Financial Times stated in one of its report. However, the following year, the plan was shelved after Royal Mint refused to back the plan.

63. Threat or money's protection

In Argentina, bitcoin's popularity reached new heights after reports of inflation started doing the rounds. Since cryptocurrency is free from the volatility, generally associated with the other currencies, it is considered to be a much safer mode of keeping the money. The reports of inflation attracted people to invest in bitcoins to protect their money. However, some states see digital currency as a threat to the economy, just like the government of Kazakhstan. According to Investory, the Kazakhstan government advised people to refrain from investing in bitcoins and showcase their spirit of patriotism.

64. Subway for bitcoins

If you love your sub sandwich and wish to pay using bitcoins, there is one Subway outlet in the United States that accepts bitcoin as a mode of payment. So, grab a sub and pay using your digital cash. But note that this is possible only at one outlet.

65. Active bitcoin users from the United States

Reports suggest that the highest number of active bitcoin user is active in the United States. This number of active bitcoin network nodes in the United States surpasses the number in Europe, Canada, and also China.

66. Bitcoins in circulation

Of the total volume of bitcoins produced and brought in circulation, it is only 36 percent that is active and in circulation. The remaining 64 percent were just mined and since its inception, this amount of bitcoins has been sitting idle in the accounts of the holders.

67. Surge and plunge

In the year, 2017, bitcoin saw a drastic change in its graph. The bitcoin's price saw a drastic change in its price during the initial days. And the graph of bitcoin's price saw a new high being reached each day. And, the highest price that the graph touched was $20,000. But, the price of bitcoins saw a drastic plunge as it dropped to $12,000.

68. Bitcoin exchange hacked

The year 2017 saw bitcoins going through several ups and downs. Just like the rise in its value and its consequent fall, the year also saw the 4th largest bitcoin network, Bithumb being hacked for billions of dollars.

69. Robert Sheller compared bitcoins to Tulip mania

Nobel-prize winning economist Robert Shiller, compared bitcoins to the Tulip mania of the 1640s, in Holland, RT reported. Tulip mania was an economic bubble, wherein the market saw immense growth before falling drastically.

70. Rise in transaction fees to 1289%

Bitcoin saw a huge rise in its transaction fees. Since the year, 2015, until February 2017, the transaction fees of bitcoins rose by 1289%.

71. Manifold rise in biotin value

It goes without saying that since its inception, the value of bitcoin has only seen an upward graph. But do you know how many time the value of bitcoins rose? Well, from the year 2010 till 2015, the value of bitcoins multiplied by 879,999 times!

72. The crash of 2014

In 2014, MT Gox, the largest bitcoin exchange, in the world crashed. This crash of the exchange saw the price of bitcoin witnessing a 40 percent decline.

73. Surprising savings for banks using the blockchain model

The blockchain technology has also proved to be beneficial for banks. Banks using this technology saw a rise in its potential savings and the figure stands at an impressive $8 to 12 million.

74. Declaration of bitcoins for tax purposes

Do you know how many people declared their holding of bitcoins for taxation purposes? The number stands at 807 worldwide.

75. Security cameras as bitcoin miners

Well, yes, you read it correct! Hackers did turn the DVRs of security cameras into bitcoin miners!

76. Interested in bitcoin debit card?

Individuals, as well as businesses, can hold their own bitcoin debit card! Surely an amazing thing for the ardent users of bitcoin. Isn't it! Hold on, there is more. There are 7 types of bitcoin debit cards that you can choose from.

77. The first bitcoin acquisition

The SatohiDice is the first big bitcoin acquisition that was made in 2013. The acquisition involved 126,315 bitcoins or an approximate of $12.4 million!

78. Gamble and win

On a gambling site, a person was reported to have won 11,000 bitcoins. Named Nakowa, the person won bitcoins in the year 2013, the approximate value of which stands at $47 million.

79. Control of mining pool in the hands of the Chinese

More than 70 percent control over the bitcoin network's collective hash rate is in the hands of the Chinese mining pools. By collective hash rate, here we mean the speed at which any computer is able to complete an operation in a bitcoin code.

80. Too pricey accident

In the year 2016, a very costly accident happened. It so happened that a person made a transfer of bitcoins, which was worth $137,000 when all he has to transfer was $5. And, as it is a known fact that bitcoin transactions once made cannot be reversed, there was no way that the transaction could be reversed.

81. Claims of stealing $1 million bitcoins

Alphabay Phisher "Phishkingz," a deep web hacker, who operates under the pseudonym, "Phishkingz," had claimed that he had stolen over $1 million phishing the accounts of Alphabay users. He claimed to have generated the huge amount in a duration of just 14 months.

82. Money laundering case of Florida

In a Florida court, a money laundering case, involving bitcoins was registered. However, since the state regulations do not recognize bitcoins as money, the case was dismissed in the year 2016.

83. Bitcoin Saving and Trust

A Bitcoin Ponzi scheme by the name of Bitcoin Saving and Trust was in operation. But with the scheme being shut down, people lost a whopping amount of bitcoins. The total loss incurred by people amounted to 700,000 bitcoins.

84. Surviving on bitcoins

Do you think you can survive on bitcoins alone for a couple of days? Or maybe a day? Not sure? Well, Austin Craig and Beccy Bingham did set an example as they showed the world that surviving on bitcoins is no big deal. They survived on bitcoins alone for 90 days!

85. Bitcoin billionaires

Would you like to know the names of the bitcoin billionaires? Some of the bitcoin billionaires are: Dave Carlson holding 35 million bitcoins, Charlie Shrem holding 45 million bitcoins and Roger Ver, holding 52 million bitcoins.

86. VAT exemption on bitcoins in Belgium

Well yes, you can get an exemption from value-added tax or VAT for your bitcoins. But do you know where? In Belgium! It was from 2014 that this exemption was started.

87. VAT exemption on bitcoins in Finland

Just like Belgium, Finland also exempted bitcoins from the VAT, starting from the same year, 2014. Additionally, it treats bitcoin as a commodity.

88. Market cap of bitcoin

Bitcoin is undoubtedly the most popular cryptocurrency, which is being used till date. With a market cap of 160 million, it is not just ahead of its competitors but also ahead of several big names like IBM, GE, Disney and McDonald's, Republic World states.

89. Can you guess the bitcoin successors?

It is believed that Ethereum and Litecoin are the successors of bitcoin. While Ethereum has a market cap of 18.7 billion coins, Litecoin has 2.27 billion coins.

90. Bitcoins as foreign currency

The Swiss regulatory bodies have confidence in the cryptocurrency, bitcoin. This is proved by the fact that this digital currency has been classified as foreign currency.

91. Switzerland's bitcoin bank

A first of its kind bank is the bitcoin bank that has received its approval from the regulators in the year 2017. The private bank will manage bitcoin assets, thereby paving the way for other global banks for offering digital currency products. Falcon Private Bank, which is based in Zurich made the announcement in the month of July, CNBC reported.

92. Switzerland's Crypto Valley

The Zug region of Switzerland has been dubbed as "Crypto Valley." The reason behind such a name is that there are several digital currency businesses that are located in this region.

93. Nobel Prize for bitcoin founder, Satoshi Nakamoto

The year 2015 saw the bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto making it big. This is due to the fact that the founder, whose real identity is not known till date, got nominated for a Nobel Prize in Economic Science!

94. 69 percent banks interested in the blockchain

In a survey conducted by Infosys, it came to light that 69 percent banks are interested and are experimenting with permissioned blockchains. The survey had 100 leaders from 75 institutes participating. And, we all know that blockchain is bitcoin's public ledger, recording all the transactions taking place.

95. Blockchain investments

The Infosys survey also concluded that the year 2017 will witness $1 million investments being made in blockchain projects.

96. Bitcoin wallet startup raises $40 million

Bitcoin wallet startup, Blockchain raised $40 million funding in 2017. The investment round that was led by Lakestar, a venture capital firm, had billionaire Richard Branson and Google's investment arm, GV coming forward to make the investment in the cryptocurrency wallet, CNBC reported.

97. Some more bitcoin startups

Apart from Blockchain, the bitcoin wallet startup, some of the other bitcoin startups are Bitpay, a global bitcoin payment service provider and Coinstream, a platform for buying and sending bitcoins, using credit card.

98. Bitcoin exchange hacked

Japan's bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox was based in Shibuya, Tokyo. It was amongst the world's leading bitcoin exchange and the largest intermediary around 2013 and the start of 2014. However, in 2014, it was hacked, and Mt. Gox lost 850,000 bitcoins that belonged to customers and the company as well. The company ultimately filed for bankruptcy in March the same year.

99. Mt. Gox's replacement also faced loses

Mt. Gox was replaced by Bitfinex as the largest bitcoin exchange in the world. But, just like its predecessor, this bitcoin exchange also suffered losses, worth $72 million in bitcoins in the year 2016.

100. Antpool's control on bitcoin mining

During the time span around 2016-17, a Chinese mining pool, by the name of Antpool mined approximately 20 percent of all the blocks that were being mined at that time.

101. Bitcoin address creation

For the creation of bitcoin addresses, SHA256, a cryptographic hash function is used. SHA stands for Secure Hash Algorithm and it is not only used for the creation of bitcoin addresses, but is also used for mining as a proof of work algorithm.

102. Can you guess the bitcoin network's strength?

Well, the bitcoin network's strength is equivalent to that of 500 supercomputers put together!

103. Pay taxes in bitcoin

Yes! Starting from January 2018, Chiasso, a municipality in Switzerland will be accepting taxes in the form of bitcoins. So, if you are in Chiassio, you can put your bitcoins to good use!

104. Liberland accepts bitcoin

Free Republic of Liberland, the micronation between Croatia and Serbia, accepts the digital currency bitcoin as a reserve currency.

105. What post, all the bitcoins have come into existence?

After all the bitcoins have come into existence, what will drive the miners? Well, it is the transaction fees that will drive the miners after 2140, the year which is expected to be the time when all 21 million bitcoins will come into existence.

106. Megaupload accepts bitcoin

The Hong Kong-based online company that provides services involving file storage and viewing, Megaupload accepts micropayments in the form of digital cash. The Megaupload v2 was launched by Kim Dotcom.

107. Pineapple Fund's charity in bitcoins

The philanthropic project, Pineapple Fund was created in December, in 2017 by an anonymous person. The founder, who is nicknamed, "Pine," claims that he is amongst the largest holder of bitcoin. Since the peak in the price of bitcoins in the year 2017, Pine has been giving $86 million as a donation.

108. Peter Thiel's monster bet on bitcoins

Entrepreneur and famous Silicon Valley investor, Peter Thiel, started the venture capital fund, Founders Fund. And, according to Wall Street Journal reports, he holds hundreds of millions of dollars in bitcoin as of January 2018. It must be mentioned that Thiel is an early investor in Facebook and also a co-founder of PayPal.

109. Bitcoins seized in a drug case in 2017

The year 2017 saw the United States government cracking an opioid drug case. While solving this, bitcoins, worth an approximate of $10 million was seized and then sold.

110. Bitcoin analyst kidnapped for bitcoins

In Ukraine, a bitcoin analyst was kidnapped. The kidnappers released the analyst only after the British company paid a ransom on December 30, 2017, and the ransom amount was $1 million in bitcoins.

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