Bitcoin, a new currency based on PEER-to-peer (P2P) transmission algorithm, was created in 2009. Because it is not controlled by any financial institution, it allows private currency transactions between two people. Bitcoin was born at a penny, but now it’s hovering around $800, a 100,000-fold increase.
Here are 10 short stories about bitcoin:
1. Who invented Bitcoin
In 2008, a Japanese guy named Satoshi Nakamoto uploaded a white paper entitled “Bitcoin: A PEER-to-peer Electronic Money System” to a cryptography mailing list. In the document he lays out the idea of a cryptocurrency that is not issued by a central bank or authority and allows transactions between two anonymous individuals. And so bitcoin was born. But the problem is, no one knows who this so-called Satoshi is. After Bitcoin was up and running, his communications dwindled and disappeared completely in mid-2010. Meanwhile, as the value of Bitcoin has steadily soared, there has been speculation that the founder could become very rich (you name it).
2. Pizza with 10,000 bitcoins
On May 22, 2010, a guy named Laszlo Hanyecz agreed to pay a British man 10,000 Bitcoins (presumably enough to buy several Papa John’s restaurants) to order a pizza for him from his local Papa John’s. As proof, Laszlo uploaded the photo above, and the first real world Bitcoin transaction was born. As the value of Bitcoin rises, that slice of pizza is theoretically getting more expensive.
The police chief is paid in bitcoins
As bitcoin continues to make headlines, more and more people are becoming aware and using it. The police chief of Vicco, a Kentucky town of fewer than 300 people, was also in the news when he demanded, and the town agreed, to be paid in Bitcoin. It is the first instance of a government entity using electronic money to make payments.
4. Paying for college with bitcoin
The University of Nicosia in Cyprus, Greece, has added a master of Science degree in digital currency, so it’s only natural that it will accept Bitcoin for tuition. Now Cyprus is also aiming to become the world’s center for bitcoin exchanges.
5. The weird guy told LU to throw away his hard disk and 7,500 bitcoins at the same time
Because bitcoin has no central bank or power by nature, it is up to the holder to keep it. Since lack of regulation is one of its attributes, this means that bitcoin can be “lost” if users’ wallets are not backed up regularly. Here’s a sad story. A hapless James Howells once had 7,500 bitcoins, stored on a hard drive. He threw away the hard drive without hesitation during a clean-up, and the virtual property was thrown into the trash, never to be found again.
6, accidentally bought bitcoin, then accidentally bought a mansion
For long-term bitcoin holders, “forgetting them” is good for preservation. In 2009, a Norwegian named Kristoffer Koch bought 5,000 Bitcoins for $27 on a whim. Fast forward to October 2013, and the price of bitcoin has soared so much that this guy can buy an apartment in an affluent area of Oslo for 1,000 bitcoins.
7. “Bitcoin Life” marriage Experiment
In July 2013, Austin Craig and Beccy Bingham of Provo, Utah, decided to spend the first 90 days of their marriage as an experiment, using only Bitcoin as their currency. They also filmed documentaries for their followers and regularly updated their blogs.
8. Space Bitcoin payment
Billionaire Richard Bransen loves new things, and his new projects are using the new currency. At virgin Galactic, his millionaire space travel club, he began accepting bitcoin. Perhaps the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto is among those candidates for space travel.
9. Plastic surgery with Bitcoin
Vanity, a plastic surgery hospital in Miami, Florida, accepts bitcoin for everything from belly liposuction to breast augmentation.
10. A Bitcoin-themed parody band
ZhouTong is a parody band of two musicians who cover pop songs with a Bitcoin theme. For example, the song “Mr. Bitcoin” is a cover of the Chordettes song “Mr. Sandman.”