9 Must known facts about cryptocurrency

The world of cryptocurrency is quite intriguing. There are traders and investors who have already invested in cryptocoins and earning handsomely. Some want to invest and trade in cryptocurrencies, yet something holds them from experimenting with their luck. Whichever way, if you find cryptocurrencies fascinating, then here are ten crypto facts that you must be aware of.

Read here: Cryptocurrency Glossary

Listen Below are Nine Facts about crypto

1. While many believe cryptocurrencies are a new invention, the concept is more than two decades old

Starting from the beginning, this is a fact for everyone, which very few people are aware of, though. The first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, was introduced officially in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto. However, the concept of cryptocoins started at least ten to fifteen years before this landmark event. Back in the 1990s, the roots of cryptocoins were laid by Wei Dei, who developed b-money, and Nick Szabo, who propagated the idea of BitGold. It was a thought, a dream, and had no existence per se at that time, but they did a lot of preliminary work that served as the base for Bitcoin developers.

A bit about b-money and BitGold: In 1988, Wei Dai, a computer scientist, created b-money that worked as a distributed e-cash system. It was anonymous and never got any official launch though the system worked almost like how cryptocurrencies work today. In the same year, Nick Szabo created decentralized digital money or virtual currency called BitGold. It never got implemented by the working was almost parallel to how Bitcoins work today.

2. There is still doubt about the actual creator of Bitcoin

In other words, the Bitcoin inventor has never revealed his or her identity, even though officially it is believed that the creator‘s name is Satoshi Nakamoto. However, no one to date has met Nakamoto, and the person has never been publicly accepted as being the creator of Bitcoin. Even though Bitcoin is the first official cryptocurrency and the most common one amongst almost 7,300 cryptocurrencies (as of November 2021), the creator is still unknown. Most people from the crypto trade believe that Satoshi Nakamoto is not a human being but an acronym for Samsung-Toshiba-Nakamichi-Motorola.

3. Bitcoin amount is limited

One of the most interesting facts about cryptocurrency is about the limited number of Bitcoins, unlike what many people would like to believe. In 2009, the limit was earmarked at 21 million, which means that once this mark is reached, no more Bitcoins can be mined. In November 2021, the number of Bitcoins in circulation was estimated to be about 19 million. It means that there are only about two million more for miners to mine.

4. Miners and blockchain technology are the core of cryptocurrencies

One of the important things to know about cryptocurrency is the technology that works behind the scene.

• The basic infrastructure of cryptocurrencies depends on the blockchain, which helps record every piece of information and transaction on the decentralized digital ledger. Distributed throughout the network, the blocks record the data, and when one block is full, another identical block is created.
• Mining is an essential part of cryptocurrencies as it adds to the number of cryptocoins in the market. It is carried out by high-powered computers capable of solving complex mathematical equations and miners.

5. The digital wallet, once lost, is almost untraceable

One essential cryptocurrency fact is that the crypto wallet that holds your digital funds, if lost, can seldom be traced back. It goes into a crypto void, and it is unlikely that it can ever be recovered or traced back. The digital or crypto wallet comes with a public and a private key. The private key is for ready access to your wallet. It is crucial to be careful about the private key. If you lose this key, it is literally impossible to retrieve it.

6. Unlike popular belief, cryptocurrencies are not anonymous

It is usually said that crypto transactions are anonymous or have an unknown origin. But that is untrue. The transactions are all related to a public wallet address. Even though the sender and the receiver of the transaction are difficult to trace, it is possible to get the details by analyzing the data. Thus, crypto transactions are not anonymous; they are pseudonymous.

7. Three cryptocoins that can prove powerful in 2022

One of the noteworthy cryptocurrency facts of 2022 is that Avalance and Solana can prove to be game-changers this year, taking on the might of leading crypto coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Avalanche gets executed at 4.500 TPS with a block finality time under two seconds. Comparing this with Bitcoin, which can handle 7 TPS in a time of 60 minutes, and Ethereum that has a TPS of 13 and timing of 6 minutes, Avalanche is way more dynamic. Solana is quickly evolving with minimal transaction costs.

8. The prices of cryptocurrencies are fraught

A key cryptocurrency market fact about cryptocurrencies is that the prices of these currencies are highly volatile. It means that the price can rise or fall abruptly, and the change in the price can be phenomenal. For example, there can be a 30% to 50% change in the value of a cryptocurrency within hours. All of a sudden, investors could be losing huge sums of money, and in another few hours or days, they could be making amazing gains. Sometimes, it could take months for the cryptocoin to recover. It is exactly why experts advise traders and investors to be cautious when making crypto investments.

9. The first known transaction with a cryptocurrency

Everyone knows that Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency in the world. Interestingly, the first payment in Bitcoin was 10,000 BTC that was received on 22nd May 2010 against the order of two pizzas from Papa John’s Pizzas. Valued at 0.2 dollars then, Laszlo Hanyeez made the payments using BTC for a bill amount of $41. To commemorate this day, 22nd May is celebrated as Bitcoin Pizza Day every year.

Conclusion

These were the nine must-know facts about cryptocurrencies. You must be aware of many more interesting facts before trading in cryptocurrencies.