Bitcoin - Statistics & Facts

Bitcoin, also called a mobile currency or a crypto currency, was created in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto, a mysterious individual or a group of people whose true identity is still unknown today. The main idea behind the establishment of this virtual currency was to enable quick and cheap online payments without the need to use traditional banking channels. Bitcoin gained in popularity when its price jumped from around 216.91 U.S. dollars in January 2015 to approximately 697.37 U.S. dollars in October 2016.

The number of Bitcoin ATMs increased from 538 in January 2016 to 838 by November that year. Most Bitcoin ATMs, as of July 2016, were located in the United States (345) and Canada (108). The Bitcoin ATMs located in Europe as of June 2016 constituted 24.02 percent of the global ATM market share. The leading ATM producer worldwide as of June 2016 was Genesis Coin, with 35.6 percent of the market share.

The term Bitcoin is not commonly recognized. In the United States, 76 percent of the respondents of a survey conducted in January 2014 admitted that they were not familiar with Bitcoin. In another survey carried out in June 2014, 39 percent of the Americans interested in mobile transactions stated that they had never heard of the term Bitcoin. The main concerns about using Bitcoin as of May 2014 in the United States were, among others, Bitcoin security, lack of transaction insurance and no regulation or taxation.

However, the future of this virtual currency is yet unknown. If the most important difficulties are overcome and people all over the world start to trust in Bitcoin, it might become one of the most popular online payment means.