Here are twenty-one interesting and random facts about cryptocurrency you probably didn’t know (as of January 9, 2022):

1. The #1 corporate holder of Bitcoin is Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. They hold 654,885 Bitcoin, or 3.12% of the total supply.
2. The #2 corporate holder of Bitcoin is MicroStrategy. They hold 124,391 Bitcoin.
3. On May 10, 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz spent 10,000 Bitcoin for 2 Papa John’s pizzas in Florida. This was the first recorded Bitcoin payment for goods, and was valued at about $40 at the time. That Bitcoin is now worth over $4 Billion.
4. It is well known that there will only be 21 million Bitcoin ever created. However, out of this, an estimated 3.7 million Bitcoin have been lost forever, leaving only 17.3 million Bitcoin that can ever be accessed and sold.
5. There are only 1.3 million Bitcoin available to buy on cryptocurrency exchanges currently.
6. Bitcoin became legal tender alongside the US Dollar in El Salvador in 2021.
7. There are 16,531 cryptocurrencies listed on CoinMarketCap.com.
8. $14 Billion in crypto was stolen by scammers in 2021, compared to $7.8 Billion in 2020.
9. There have been 485,814 token contracts created on Ethereum.
10. There have been 1,739,832 token contracts on the Binance Smart Chain.
11. There have been 7,452 token contracts created on the XRP ledger.
12. According to CoinATMRadar there are 34,479 crypto ATMs controlled by 603 operators in 77 countries.
13. 30,380 or 88% of worldwide crypto ATMs are in the United States.
14. The #2 and #3 countries in total crypto ATMs are Canada (2,253) and El Salvador (205).
15. 64 crypto companies achieved the status of “unicorn” meaning they are valued over $1 Billion.
16. Coinbase went public in 2021, and has a market cap (total value of all shares) of $60 Billion. 39 achieved this level in 2021.
17. Cryptocurrency exchange, FTX achieved a valuation of $32 Billion in 2021. The also purchased the naming rights to the Miami Heat’s home area, now called FTX Arena.
18. The highest-selling NFT in history was “Everydays: The First 5000 Days”, by Beeple. It sold for $69,346,250 (38,525 ETH) on March 11, 2021. As of this writing ($3,023 per ETH) that is currently worth more than $116 million.
19. NFT sales on OpenSea have now surpassed $14 Billion, at an average sale of $939. The global NFT market sales were only $300 million in 2020 per nonfungible.com.
20. There were 14 blockchain video games with over 100,000 users on desktop in the past month, per DappRadar. The #1 blockchain game based on desktop users over the past month was Alien Worlds, with over 1.2 million users.
21. Some of the biggest gaining cryptocurrencies in 2021 were gaming and metaverse projects. Sandbox ($SAND) gained 12,763%. But that was beaten by Axie Infinity ($AXS) which gained 15,132%. And those were dwarfed by Gala ($GALA) which gained 40,400%.

This content is for educational purposes only. It does not constitute trading advice. Past performance does not indicate future results. Do not invest more than you can afford to lose. The author of this article may hold assets mentioned in the piece.