Bitcoin really has taken the world by storm. It has gone from something that was unheard of to a global phenomenon. Here are 7 facts you didn't know about bitcoin!

You Can Buy A Mansion For Bitcoin

The first thing that comes to mind when thinking of bitcoin is probably some young kid on their laptop mining the digital currency in their parents' basement. Those days are long gone. In fact, you can purchase a mansion for bitcoin!

In December 2016, Las Vegas luxury real estate firm The Siegel Group announced they would allow some of their properties to be purchased using Bitcoin. Their first property up for grabs was a 7 bedroom home with an in-ground pool and waterfall spa. The price was 7 bitcoin, which is equivalent to about 3 million dollars.

Weird Stuff You Can Buy With Bitcoin

Speaking of buying things with bitcoin, the cryptocurrency has been used for some pretty unique purchases. While most items you can buy with bitcoin are fairly innocuous (overstock.com and Subway both accept the digital currency), a few purchases are a little more unusual.

One bitcoin enthusiast purchased 2 pizzas with 10,000 bitcoins back in 2010, which at the time was only worth about $25 dollars. Today, those Bitcoins would be worth around 70 million dollars! Who knows what they'll be worth in another 8 years.

Although sometimes ignored, it's important to remember that the digital currency is still fairly new and there are many people who do not understand how it works. If you would like to get involved but don't know where to start, look at our beginner's guide to buying and selling Bitcoins.

How to Sell?

So…how do you sell bitcoin?

It's surprising how much the concept of Bitcoin confuses even those who you would think are most likely to understand it. It's widely recognized that Bitcoin is an online form of currency, but many people still think it's just something that hackers use to buy illegal goods anonymously - which isn't true.

Although part of the reason for this could be that there is not much mainstream coverage about Bitcoin, the lack of information available on it also stems from a lack of understanding. Even those who have heard of Bitcoin may not know how to buy and sell it.

The simple answer is: by using different exchanges. There are a few different types of exchanges you can use, but the most common are 'Trading platforms' which allow you to buy and sell bitcoin for other currencies; or 'Bitcoin wallets' - apps that store your Bitcoin.

Transfer Time

How long does it take to transfer bitcoins between wallets? Sending bitcoins takes a few seconds, but receiving Bitcoins can take up to an hour.

What fees are associated with Bitcoin?

In short, transfers within wallets are practically free, and trading platforms have been known to charge as little as 0.1% fees. On the other hand, transferring money out of your wallet or off the platform can cost as much as 10%!

How many Bitcoins are there?

This is a tough question to answer; we simply don't know! As of February 2015, there were over 13 million bitcoins in circulation, and the software limited the number of new bitcoins being created to 21 million. However, any bitcoin can be divided by up to 8 decimal places (0.00000001BTC) and potentially even smaller units created, so there are over 21 million of the most basic units.

Bitcoin is a deflationary currency, not an inflationary one

People often mistake Bitcoin for an inflationary currency, since the supply of new bitcoins is designed to increase over time. However, the amount of bitcoin actually in circulation is far lower than the possible number because of accidental loss or willful destruction by people moving it from wallets they no longer use.

What happens when all Bitcoins are mined?

21 million is the total number of Bitcoins that can possibly be created, but not all of them are currently in circulation. There are many more than 21 million bitcoins in supply due to accidental loss or purposeful destruction. When all the coins have been mined and only 21 million coins remain, miners will still benefit from transaction fees and newly minted bitcoins will continue to enter the economy every 10 minutes. The Bitcoin protocol will continue to accommodate changes in mining difficulty so that there is no sudden increase or decrease in the supply of Bitcoin out of nowhere.

Conclusion

The key to this currency is staying up to date with the latest news. Hopefully, this article has given you some more clarity on the matter!