3 Lesser Known Facts About Bitcoin Which Every Investor Must Know!

By | March 16, 2018

Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency to ever be created – setting off a trend which would eventually see about 1500 other cryptocurrencies over the next nine years. It is easily the most popular name in the cryptocurrency markets and has the faith of millions of investors from around the world. With the rise in awareness around cryptocurrencies, investors today are more alert and aware of Bitcoin than they ever were! However, we bet there are some facts that even long-term investors may not be aware of.

Here are 3 such lesser-known, quirky facts about Bitcoin which are on the trivial side, but are fun to know!

Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto was nominated for the Nobel Prize!

While pretty much everyone who has been investing into Bitcoins is bound to know of Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious and anonymous creator of Bitcoins, not many people know that he was actually nominated for a Nobel Prize in 2016! He was nominated by Bhagwan Chowdhry, a professor in the University of California and Los Angeles (UCLA). Chowdhry was invited by the Nobel committee to nominate someone and he nominated Satoshi Nakamoto.

However, he was also aware that the committee may reject someone who uses a pseudonym as his real identity cannot be verified. Bhagwan also stated that he was willing to accept the Nobel Prize on behalf of Nakamoto. Interestingly, John Nash, the 1994 Nobel Prize in Economics winner has often been speculated to be Satoshi Nakamoto’s real identity.

However, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the body that governs the Nobel Prize nominations, rejected this nomination of Satoshi Nakamoto and will continue to do so unless Nakamoto reveals his real identity. The Nobel Prize has two rules – it is never awarded anonymously or posthumously. Moreover, there is also a speculation that by making his nomination details public, Bhagwan Chowdhry may have violated some rules of the committee.

Only 20% of Bitcoins Now Remain Un-Mined

‘Mining’ is the process of generating new cryptocurrencies. The mining process involves computers solving complex mathematical problems with the help of processing power. In all, there are only 21 Million Bitcoins which can ever be in circulation.

Out of these 21 Million Bitcoins, over 16.8 Million Bitcoins have now been mined. This accounts for 80% of the total Bitcoins that can ever exist, which basically brings us down to the fact that there are only 4.2 Million Bitcoins which can now be mined. However, considering the fact that mining difficulty increases with time, it will take longer to mine these remaining 4.2 Million Bitcoins than it did to mine the other 16.8 Million.

Calculations keeping Bitcoin mining difficulty into account suggest that it will take over 100 years to mine all Bitcoins (targeted May 2140). Bitcoin mining also tends to consume a lot of electricity – a cost that is constantly on the rise. It is the biggest expenditure involved in setting up a Bitcoin mining rig – and one that continues even after the hardware has paid off for itself.  

Bitcoin mining is a profitable investment as it pays off for itself in the long run. With cryptocurrency prices on a constant rise, an increasing number of people are getting attracted towards the mining process.

If you too, are planning to start off with Bitcoin Mining, we strongly recommend calculating your profitability using a Bitcoin Mining Calculator. These calculators give you an estimate of the profit you’d be making on a weekly, monthly and daily basis while keeping into account factors such as your hash rate, power cost, the mining difficulty, etc.

Bitcoin Has Been A Profitable Investment Every Year Other than 2014

One thing that every investor, as well as an observer, knows about Bitcoin prices is the fact that Bitcoin prices are volatile. They are highly volatile and keep fluctuating on a second-to-second basis. Markets can collapse by thousands of dollars in a matter of minutes! As recently observed, Bitcoin hit the lowest point of the month last week as prices fell below $9000 – a mark that the prices have since been fluctuating around.

A look at Bitcoin price performance over the years shows us that other than 2014, Bitcoin prices have closed at a higher point than they have opened it. Here’s a detailed look at it –

  • 2010: Bitcoin price rose from $0.0015 at the start of the year to $0.31 by the time the year came to an end – a profit of 20,566%
  • 2011: Bitcoin price opened at $0.31 and closed the year at $6.18 – a profit of 1893%
  • 2012: Bitcoin price surged from $6.18 to $13.44 – a profit of 117.5%
  • 2013: Bitcoin price rose from $13.44 to $751 – a profit of 5487%
  • 2014: The only year where Bitcoin made a loss, starting the year at $751 and ending at a price of $285 – a loss of 60%
  • 2015: Bitcoin price surged from $285 to $435 in 2015, making a profit of 52.8%
  • 2016: Bitcoin went from $435 to $952.5 – a profit of 118.5%
  • 2017: Bitcoin started the year at $952.5 and closed the year at $13,715 – a profit of 1350%.

Bitcoin price collapsed in 2014 because of the Mt. Gox hack – which was the biggest cryptocurrency exchange hack till Coincheck was hacked in 2015. The Mt. Gox hack led to markets destabilizing and prices crashing as there was a widespread fear in the markets about funds getting hacked.

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About Joel Picardo

Joel Picardo has been in the Cryptocurrency space from the last 2 years and got to know about it through his mentor Arvind Borhade (CTO at U.CASH). He is also currently managing the operations at UCASH India. He is an individual filled with optimism and destined to be a billionaire in the future. His work ethic and dedication are second to none. He believes that Bitcoin and Blockchain would create a world of new opportunities.

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