Bitcoin statistics
Here are the numbers you need to know about the biggest cryptocurrency.
The first digital currency and the largest to this day, Bitcoin makes up 66.8% of the total value of all cryptocurrencies as of 10 December 2019.
Bitcoin’s founding is the stuff of legend: it was created in 2009 by the alias Satoshi Nakamoto, who had the idea that money shouldn’t be controlled exclusively by a centralized government or agency.
Since then, Bitcoin has smashed all records — notably in December 2017 when it reached more than US$19,000 per coin. It has simply changed the way we think about money.
Key statistics about Bitcoin:
- 17.3 million Bitcoin are in circulation as of 10 December 2019.
- Bitcoin is unrestricted — meaning it isn’t regulated specifically — in 124 countries out of 257.
- The largest holdings in a single Bitcoin address contains 255,502 Bitcoin — or more than US$2.1 billion.
Who uses Bitcoin?
- Women comprise 12.28% of those in the Bitcoin community.
- A 2015 CoinDesk survey revealed that more than 90% of Bitcoin users are male.
- The CoinDesk survey also found that 60% of Bitcoin owners are under 35 years old, and 65.8% identify as white, followed closely by those who identify as Asian.
- Of bitcoin users, most are 25 to 34 years old (46.32%), followed by those aged 35 to 44 (26.76%).
- The most popular fiat currencies to change into Bitcoin are the US dollar and the Japanese yen.
How popular is Bitcoin?
- In the last three months of 2019, each day saw an average 310,507 confirmed Bitcoin transactions.
- More than 1.2 million Redditors subscribe to the r/Bitcoin community.
- In one day — on 7 December 2017 — there were 155.6K tweets about Bitcoin. Interest on Twitter has been dwindling, with only 15.19K Bitcoin tweets recorded on 10 December 2019.
What about mining?
- Average Bitcoin mining difficulty has increased more than sixfold in the last year, from 2.2278 trillion on 14 January 2018 to almost 13 trillion as at 10 December 2019.
- The Bitcoin blockchain is roughly 300GB as of 10 December 2019.
What is a Bitcoin address?
Bitcoin, like other cryptocurrencies, uses random alphanumeric (a smattering of between 26 and 35 letters and numbers) characters to identify a destination within Bitcoin’s network.
If someone were to send you Bitcoin, the address is the destination you’d give to the other party(s) in the transaction to send the Bitcoin.
The address is designed to be a single-use identifier and is also not the same as a wallet, which is the location where you’d store your crypto like Bitcoin.
Fun facts
- The first real-world Bitcoin transaction was a pizza purchase on 22 May 2010, from Papa John’s, for 10,000 BTC. The pizzas were valued at US$25 at the time. At the time of writing this, those pizzas would be worth nearly US$140 million.
- Unlike other cryptocurrencies, the number of Bitcoin is finite — exactly 21 million are available for mining, with 18 million already mined.
- It took five years for a single Bitcoin to be worth US$1,000. In contrast, from 1 January 2017 to the 2018 New Year, Bitcoin’s value increased from US$800 to US$14,000, hitting a high of US$19,000 in December 2017. As at 10 December 2019, Bitcoin was worth US$7,397.13.
- The number of Bitcoin is limited, meaning that once all the Bitcoin is mined/found, no more Bitcoin will be generated. As the remaining number of Bitcoin available to be mined/found becomes less and less, Bitcoin will start the process of “block halving”. Basically, this means that the block reward for miners is halved. According to Investopedia, “The block reward is halved every 210,000 blocks or roughly every 4 years. In 2009, it was 50. In 2013, it was 25, in 2018 it was 12.5, and some time in the middle of 2020, it will halve to 6.25.” That date in 2020 is expected to come in May.
Disclaimer:
This information should not be interpreted as an endorsement of cryptocurrency or any specific provider,
service or offering. It is not a recommendation to trade. Cryptocurrencies are speculative, complex and
involve significant risks – they are highly volatile and sensitive to secondary activity. Performance
is unpredictable and past performance is no guarantee of future performance. Consider your own
circumstances, and obtain your own advice, before relying on this information. You should also verify
the nature of any product or service (including its legal status and relevant regulatory requirements)
and consult the relevant Regulators' websites before making any decision. Finder, or the author, may
have holdings in the cryptocurrencies discussed.
