Ever since the first bitcoin was released and bought in front of the world, it has changed the way transactions had been made predominantly. There is a reason bitcoin is very famous today. It is a digital currency that connects two people together without the need for an intermediary. In other words, if you are a businessman doing business with someone who is sitting in the opposite corner of the world, you don’t need to contact a bank to make transactions. You can make payments and carry out transactions via a decentralized system i.e. the bitcoin.
But today, bitcoins are not just used for transactions, but it is also an excellent source for investment and trading. People have been buying bitcoin and storing them so that as the price increases, their net worth also increases as well. Bitcoin has become a real thing, and many people have earned a lot through its trade.
History of bitcoin
The concept of bitcoin first came to light in 2008. 2008 was a year marked as the year the world remembers as a year for the financial crisis. So, in the midst of this crisis, an unknown person or a group of people with the name Satoshi Nakamoto is said to be the mastermind behind the bitcoin. He introduced this concept in a paper in which defined the following characteristics of the bitcoin:
- Decentralized system
- Digital currency
- Highly secure
- Fast
Decentralization means that there is no single administrating entity that holds the key to the system. Instead, there is a ledger that is available for the public to use whenever and wherever. In other words, everyone is entitled to store the information about their computer or wallet. In this way, a strong network was developed through which people can send bitcoins to each other without any intermediaries, i.e., banks for financial institutes.
The first block of bitcoin was launched in 2009, and a week after that, the first successful transaction was made. For almost a year after the first successful transaction, the bitcoin had no monetary value. However, it has almost a year later that it started to get some monetary values. At the start, it was four bitcoins per penny.
In its early days, people would negotiate these in exchange for goods and services. It was as if the world has returned to the barter system. Most of these bartering took place on the internet. However, it was in 2011 that people considered it as an opportunity and started coming up with more cryptocurrencies like Litecoin or Ethereum. Soon, everyone was working to take hold of the opportunity by making it an easy solution for the peer-to-peer transaction. And today, it not only has a very high value but is also a very popular and safe means of making transactions all over the world.
Today 1 bitcoin is almost equal to $36,000, and it is still going strong in the future. Although there are many cryptocurrencies today but bitcoin is still known as the king of these all.
People who own the most bitcoins
Those who got hold of the bitcoins in their early days are all said to be millionaires today. It was a smart and lucky investment. But above all, it was an opportunity, and not everyone seemed to understand. Here are a few people who hold the most bitcoins in the world today:
Satoshi Nakamoto
The name behind pioneering the bitcoins, Satoshi Nakamoto, can be a single person or a group of people. No one knows the real identity behind the name. But one thing is exact, and the pioneer definitely owns the most bitcoins in the world. And why not? As he came up with the concept, it is understood that he holds the key and keeps of circulating bitcoins so that it becomes a never-ending cycle of buying and selling. And even if he doesn’t use them for transactions, he has so many in his wallet already. It is believed that although he mined bitcoins, he never used them. So, it is estimated that he holds no less than a million bitcoins. It is a pretty huge number; if you convert, it’s worth it today.
Well, thanks to the researchers who wanted to be rested a day to find out the real identity of this mastermind, the closest they have come to know him are that he is an Asian or probably of Japanese origin living in Japan. Also that he was born in 1975; that’s pretty much everything the world knows about the pioneer of bitcoin.
Barry Silbert
Apart from Satoshi Nakamoto, Barry Silbert is said to have the second most bitcoins in the world. He, unlike Satoshi Nakamoto, is not unknown and doesn’t hide his true identity. He is the founder of the famous Digital Currency Group and aims to accelerate the progress and development of the financial system globally. They do that by supporting different digital currencies, including bitcoins. Furthermore, his company also owns a genesis that is said to be among the largest trading firms that regulate the trade of cryptocurrency. It is heavy stuff if you ask me. And therefore, his group is said to have owned more than a hundred thousand bitcoins.
The world of cryptocurrency has been flourishing ever since. It is enormous, and the people who were smart enough to invest in it are now very secure financially. Even if you are not among those who first took hold of bitcoin, you can now make an investment. It is a perfect opportunity for those who have a little extra cash lying around in their saving accounts or banks. Over time bitcoins have been said to be very secure, and as a result, they are very successful and popular ay of making transactions without any intermediary. People have based their whole businesses on these digital currencies.