- Bitcoin has been given multiple entries in the latest Guinness World Records
- The cryptocurrency has been recognised as the first, oldest and most valuable cryptocurrency
- El Salvador and Laszlo Hanyecz also make the book for their Bitcoin connections
Bitcoin has achieved many things in its 14 years, but it recently received a rather surprising accolade – a number of entries in the Guinness World Records. The cryptocurrency was awarded the title of ‘first decentralised cryptocurrency’ as well as most valuable and, somewhat obviously, oldest. Laszlo Hanyecz also made the book for the first commercial Bitcoin transaction, while El Salvador was also entered.
Sentiment Trumps Accuracy
Bitcoin’s title of ‘first decentralised cryptocurrency’ is of course accurate, and makes the title of ‘oldest cryptocurrency’ somewhat redundant, but the description offered by the Guinness World Records isn’t entirely accurate.
In its listing it says that, “Each node (i.e.,computer) represents a validator, also called, in the case of PoW, a miner.” This, of course, is incorrect, as miners are different from nodes, but the rest is a good explanation of how the system works. Hanyecz’s 10,000 bitcoin pizza purchase was recognised as the first commercial use of Bitcoin, retelling the famous story of his manual order through Bitcointalk, which today is worth $192 million.
Value is Immediately Wrong
El Salvador gets an award for being the first country to adopt Bitcoin, but the ‘most valuable cryptocurrency’ title is a slightly arbitrary one – the date picked was March 24, 2022, with Bitcoin’s market cap listed as $816.69 billion. Of course, this figure would have been out of date the moment it was noted down, and unless this page will be updated the moment (if ever) Bitcoin is toppled, it won’t be accurate there either.
These issues aside, it’s nice for Bitcoin to get a bit of recognition and get the message out to the wider world.
