Quote

Bitcoin is the beginning of something great: a currency without a government, something necessary and imperative
— Nassim Taleb – Author and Risk Analyst

Total Bitcoin Transaction Volume Surpassed $100 billion in September 2016

It is remarkable to see how far Bitcoin has come along compared to eight years ago.



People seem to collect all kinds of statistics related to the Bitcoin protocol. Interestingly enough, one of the currency’s largest milestones was overlooked by just about everyone. On September 2nd, 2016, the Bitcoin blockchain surpassed the S$100bn mark in Bitcoin volume transferred since its inception. Quite an achievement for this “niche market,” and hopefully, a sign of better things to come.


Statistics like these always have to be taken with a slight grain of salt, though. Granted, the Bitcoin protocol did indeed surpass US$100bn in transaction volume. However, a fair amount of those transfers come from change addresses, which somehow skews the numbers a bit. Then again, it is still a magnificent feat for a currency very few people give a chance at success.

A Major Milestone For Transacted Bitcoin Volume



At the same time, there is also the question of how much of this transaction volume is “legitimate”. In saying so, we refer to how much funds belongs to users sending their own resources to different addresses. All of these things have to be taken into consideration when looking at the bigger picture.

If there is one positive thing about the Bitcoin network spam in recent months, it is how it helped achieve this milestone. All of those pesky small transactions added up to a portion of the US$100bn milestone. Very few people will see things that way, though, as network congestion is a major pain in the neck to deal with.

Despite reaching this Bitcoin volume milestone, the majority of coin owners are still holders. Spending cryptocurrency for goods and services has become more common, but it represents a minority of all transactions. A lot of investors see Bitcoin as an investment vehicle, and they hold on to funds as long as possible. That is not a bad thing, but if they were active users, the numbers would be much higher by now.

It is remarkable to see how far Bitcoin has come along compared to eight years ago.What started out as an idea greeted with dismay turned into a global powerhouse. Although Bitcoin adoption is still lackluster on a global scale, things are slowly evolving in a positive direction. Rome wasn’t built in one day either, nor were the roads that lead there.

Author JP Buntinx - Bitcoin News
Header image courtesy of Shutterstock