Money, as we know it, no longer consists of wrinkly old notes and rusting nickel coins. The new concept of money revolves around the abstract and decentralized currency called crypto.
Ever since crypto’s discovery in 2008, one particular currency has gained unprecedented popularity. Bitcoin, released shortly later in 2009, is widely considered the first of many cryptocurrencies on the market. Many corporations and individuals have tried their hand at trading BTC, and you can do so too through https://www.bitcoin-revolution.software/.
Despite its popularity, not everyone has been able to master the increasingly volatile cryptocurrency. This article deciphers Bitcoin and its market valuation while also revealing who owns the most Bitcoin at the moment.
What Makes Bitcoin Unique?
Many economists and financial experts have debated the value of Bitcoin. While the notion of a decentralized currency appeals to a large audience, the lack of accountability and understanding is a cause for concern.
Unlike traditional currency, which is printed and controlled by government-sanctioned banks, crypto is entirely decentralized and relies on blockchains to verify its integrity and value. No authority in the world can create or print BTC, the currency can only be mined through a series of mathematical equations solved by powerful computers.
This concept may seem confusing, but it allows for a more open and limited form of currency. The number of BTC is capped at 21 million, with more than 18 million already being mined. Due to this market cap, the amount of currency circulated increases linearly, avoiding inflation.
To sum up, Bitcoin is decentralized, limited, durable and can’t be counterfeited. Each computer on a blockchain: a distributed ledger of transactions, gets a copy of a Bitcoin transaction, making it impossible to cheat and produce the cryptocurrency on your own.
How Bitcoin Mining Works?
Banks control and print all the money in the world, and the governments give it value. These are perhaps the only two authorities that command and manage money for all the people within a country. The same cannot be said for Bitcoin.
Anyone with access to a computer can produce and mine BTC. Each time a transaction occurs, a randomly generated computer equation is sent to all systems within a blockchain. What follows is a race to solve the equation between all the miners. The first miner to guess the answer to the equation gets to update the transaction ledger and is rewarded in BTC.
While everyone can mine BTC, they should not. The equations generated by the blockchain are highly complex and require powerful computers to guess the solution. The more powerful a system, the more answers it can predict in a given time. The average computer simply lacks the power to effectively participate in the race for crypto mining.
Who Owns the Most Bitcoin?
The number of people participating in a blockchain determines how easily one can mine the cryptocurrency. Naturally, it was easiest to mine the BTC back in 2009, with only a handful of people involved in the transactions.
It is, therefore, no surprise that the founder of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, owns the most Bitcoin 13 years after its invention. From January 2009 to 2011, Nakomoto updated over 22000 blockchain entries allowing him to mine a whopping 1.1 million BTC.
Unlike mining today, which involved powerful supercomputers and GPUs, Nakamoto relied only on his computer and a simple CPU to mine BTC. The lack of mining power in the network resulted in simple problem equations that could be solved with a few guesses.
What’s interesting is that the real identity of Satoshi Nakamoto is still unknown. While the anonymous user claims to be a middle-aged man from Japan, researchers and experts believe that the name is a pseudonym for a group of people and programmers who developed Bitcoin as a team.
As of today, the value of 1 BTC stands at around 17000 US dollars. If Satoshi Nakamoto converted his Bitcoin wallet to dollars, his net worth would be well over $17 billion.
Other Prominent Bitcoin Holders
Apart from Nakamoto, several other celebrities own a considerable amount of wealth in Bitcoin. The Winklevoss twins, popularly known for their legal dispute against Mark Zuckerberg over Facebook’s creation, own over 70000 BTC. They are among the few crypto billionaires in the world.
Venture Capitalist Tim Draper bought 30000 BTC for $18.7 million from a US Marshal’s auction that confiscated the currency from an infamous dark web site. His valuation in Bitcoin stands at over half a billion dollars.
Even public companies have had a taste of cryptocurrency. MicroStrategy, an American firm based in Virginia, owns over 130000 BTC. Elon Musk’s Tesla has also shown interest in the currency and owns over 10000 BTC.
Should You Buy Bitcoin?
While Bitcoin mining isn’t feasible for everyone, you can buy the currency from multiple sources on the internet. The official website of Bitcoin lets you buy the currency like any other asset. Many companies offer their services in exchange for Bitcoin, making it a valid medium of exchange.
Purchasing BTC should be a personal decision. Digital assets like cryptocurrencies are subject to market change resulting in value fluctuations. However, the scarcity of Bitcoin makes it an increasingly valuable asset to own in the long run.
According to calculations, the last Bitcoin will be mined by 2140. Despite that, the currency is predicted to circulate for many more years. Buying BTC while it is still being mined seems like a better option.
Wrapping Up
Cryptocurrencies are volatile and unpredictable, two factors which tend to scare off many buyers. However, the transparency of blockchain transactions and the imminent end of Bitcoin mining has given the currency immense value. Once purchased, the crypto can be used for transactions, sold and even traded to receive higher profits. By making responsible and informative decisions, you can enter the world of crypto easily.
