Frequently Asked Questions

The last block which will generate Bitcoins will be block #6,929,999. The expected date of this block is around the year 2140.

When the generation of new coins ends in the distant future, the transaction fees will likely continue to make the creation of new blocks very profitable. That way the transaction fees will maintain the use of Bitcoin and the Bitcoin network.

Unfortunately, if you send your Bitcoins to a wrong address or lose your seed phrase or private key to your wallet, there is no way to recover your Bitcoins.

Accordingly, it is extremely important that you keep your passwords and seed phrases for your wallets safe. Additionally, when sending Bitcoin, always verify that you have selected the correct receiving address.

Although there are no exact figures, recent estimates put the number of lost Bitcoins at over five million.

Unlike traditional currencies such as the Euro or the US Dollar (so–called FIAT currencies), cryptocurrencies do not exist physically in the form of coins or banknotes, but purely digitally.

In addition, cryptocurrencies can be sent and received around the globe easily and at very low cost via a cryptocurrency wallet. In contrast to FIAT currencies, there is no central third party such as governments, institutions or central banks that oversees the issuance of cryptocurrencies.

Moreover, unlike monetary currencies, the supply of many cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Litecoin is often limited.

The term Blockchain typically describes a decentralized, transparent, public ledger that allows units of value to be transferred securely using public key encryption and proof-of-work technology.

Broadly speaking, a blockchain is a database shared across a network of computers. In this database, each block in the chain contains a certain number of transactions and whenever a new transaction is performed on the blockchain, a record of this transaction is added to the ledger of each participant in the network.

This decentralised database, which is managed by various network participants, is known as Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT).

By using decentralised consensus to maintain the network, blockchain technology has a huge advantage over traditional digital databases. It cannot be censored, manipulated or controlled by a single centralised network participant, institution or government.

Cryptocurrencies (or crypto) are digital assets secured by cryptography. Cryptocurrencies are based on the so-called distributed ledger technology, whereby all transactions are stored on the blockchain.

Like traditional FIAT currencies, cryptocurrencies also act as a medium of exchange, however with no intermediaries (e.g. banks) monitoring the transactions.

In addition to Bitcoin, which is considered the first cryptocurrency, there are over 10,000 different cryptocurrencies today. These cryptocurrencies are called altcoins (alternative coins).

Your cryptocurrency holdings can be managed, sent and received via cryptocurrency wallets. There are different types of wallets with different levels of security such as desktop wallets, mobile wallets, hardware wallets or paper wallets.

Wallets do not actually store cryptocurrencies per se, but the private keys to access the digital assets on the blockchain.

For this reason, it is critically important that you keep your private key and seed phrase safe and never share them with anyone. Once someone gets hold of your private key, that person will also be able to access your crypto assets stored in your wallet!

For this reason, a well-known saying in the crypto world is: Not your keys, not your coins! 

All cryptocurrencies, coins or tokens other than Bitcoin are referred to as altcoins. The term altcoin is short for alternative coin. It alludes to the fact that Bitcoin emerged as the first or original cryptocurrency in 2009 and subsequent cryptocurrencies are classified as “alternative” or “alternate” coins.

A prominent example of an altcoin is the second largest cryptocurrency Ethereum.

An airdrop is a marketing tool for distributing cryptocurrencies to the public in order to promote new blockchain projects. Most of the time, recipients do not have to fulfill any specific tasks to receive an airdrop, sometimes the holding of a certain number of coins or tokens is a prerequisite to qualify for an airdrop.

Unlike an ICO (“Initial Coin Offering”), digital assets are distributed for free in an airdrop and there is no purchase involved.

The acronym DeFi stands for “Decentralized Finance” and describes new forms of financial protocols that are based on smart contracts and do not require a central intermediary. In contrast, in traditional financial markets, central instances such as banks are indispensable for financial transactions and services.

Recently, many new DeFi projects such as decentralized exchanges, stablecoins or peer-to-peer lending services have emerged in the crypto sector, mostly based on the Ethereum blockchain.

NFT stands for “Non-Fungible Token” and refers to a cryptographic token on the blockchain that cannot be replicated or replaced. NFTs act as certificates for the authenticity and uniqueness of a digital asset and give the owner proof of ownership.

Especially in the art and music scene, digital works have recently been offered as Non-Fungible-Tokens. In March 2021, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s first tweet was auctioned off as a NFT for $2,9 million.