What Do Guinness World Records Have To Say About Bitcoin?

Introduction

Since 1955 Guinness World Records (GWR) has published a reference book annually that covers world records from extreme natural events to human achievements. The latest edition, released in November 2017, includes an entry on Bitcoin, the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency network. It also lists other cryptocurrencies in its appendix, including Ethereum, Ripple, and Litecoin. As the GWR says of Bitcoin, the ability to transfer money across borders without the need for third-party processing has made it very popular since its creation in 2009 by an unknown person using the name Satoshi Nakamoto.

Future Records

There are currently two main ways a cryptocurrency network could be added to GWR's records. First, it could gain a record under multiple categories such as Most valuable proof-of-work coin or Longest running blockchain, and hold that record for a long time. Second, it could reach a milestone of some sort and then maintain it until another coin comes along that breaks its mark. Here are some of our guesses on what sorts of records a cryptocurrency network may be able to set: Most Value in Circulation: The most valuable cryptocurrency network has held an all-time high valuation of more than $30 billion while other networks like Litecoin have reached nearly $3 billion.

Most Expensive

With a total of 20 million bitcoins in circulation, their value has surged from less than $1 apiece at first issuance to around $20,000 currently. That’s a 1,300,000 percent increase in value or 110x appreciation. One reason bitcoin has gained so much is that it’s finite. There will only be 21 million bitcoins issued by 2140 (when GWR expects mining costs to outweigh bitcoin profits). On top of being finite and valuable (and hard for governments to tax), bitcoin is also very hack proof because transactions are transparent and verified. It can be viewed as an international currency beyond any one government’s influence or control.

Shortest Time Between Adoption and First Double Spend Attack

The first documented case of double spending occurred in 2010 when Laszlo Hanyecz purchased two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins. Just a few days later, those same coins were spent on two separate purchases. This unfortunate coincidence led to accusations that the buyer had purposefully bought with bitcoin, just to destroy its value. But there’s more than one way to skin a cat: If a malicious party wanted to manipulate network users, they could simply adopt and then sell off their holdings of bitcoin. This would cause everyone else's value per coin to drop and then said person could re-buy into bitcoin at rock-bottom prices.