Buy Bitcoin

Bitcoin (BTC) is the most famous cryptocurrency, and probably always will be. It has the highest market capitalisation, which is another way of saying that more people own it than any other cryptocurrency. It was also the first cryptocurrency to be created, and this happened in 2009.

So who created this “digital gold” that now is becoming a mainstream store of value? Strangely, the creators, even to this day, remain anonymous.

Buy Bitcoin: Why do investors purchase BTC?

The cryptocurrency was created by one person or perhaps a group of people who called themselves “Satoshi Nakamoto”. They have not been heard of since 2010, and it may be a mystery that is never solved.

Bitcoin was the first digital asset to be built on a blockchain, which means that every transaction that takes place is recorded on that blockchain. These transactions can be viewed by the public at any time. While we can’t know who is using the BTC to make these transactions, it is still a public ledger that is viewable by anyone.

Bitcoin Culture

The first crypto started its life just 13 years ago, but already there is an established culture and lore that keeps media outlets buzzing. Even in the early days, the idea of BTC captivated people.

For example, the first purchase was for pizza. However, this has blown up into “Bitcoin Pizza Day” and is a really fun theme on the internet.

On May 22, 2010, a programmer named Laszlo Hanyecz paid 10,000 BTC for two pizzas, which was worth about US$41 at the time. Today, that would be worth over US$500 million.

These days, you can buy a lot of stuff with BTC. Besides pizza, you can use it to buy things like travel, gift cards, games, art, and even space flights.

There are also many charities that accept "digital gold" donations.

Other interesting Bitcoin facts

Bitcoin is legal tender in El Salvador. On September 7, 2021, El Salvador became the first country to accept the cryptocurrency as legal tender, meaning that people can use it to pay taxes, debts, and goods and services. The government also gave every citizen US$30 worth of BTC to encourage adoption.

In other interesting news, Bitcoin has a finite supply of 21 million coins, but not all of them are in circulation. Some of them are totally lost. Sometimes this is due to forgotten passwords, lost wallets, or the death of the owners. According to crypto data firm Chainalysis, around 20% of it has been lost or is stuck in wallets that can’t be accessed.

It is not only a currency, but also a network of computers that run the Bitcoin software and validate transactions. These computers are called nodes, and anyone can run one. There are tens of thousands of nodes distributed across the world, with the highest concentration in the United States, Germany, and France.

You can actually buy part of a Bitcoin. You can invest in a whole one if you want, but you can also just buy a part too!

How many exist?

Any investor who trades BTC knows there will only ever be 21 million Bitcoin in circulation, but they have not all been “released” yet. At the time of writing, 19.6 million have been mined so far.

When 21 million BTC have been mined, that’s the end of the road for new Bitcoin. It’s still a long way off yet and is predicted to happen in 2140.