6 Bitcoin Myths Debunked

By Guest Author

February 20, 2025

Research by Bitinfocharts suggests that over 827,000 addresses hold at least one Bitcoin.

While it's difficult to know exactly how many people this translates to, given its pseudonymous nature and the fact that transactions can incorporate multiple addresses (which one person can hold), there is no doubt that Bitcoin is by far the most popular of all the cryptocurrencies on the market right now.

However, despite this, there is plenty of scepticism about investing in this type of digital currency that stops people from wanting to buy Bitcoin, much of which is based on misconceptions.

So, in this post, we thought we’d debunk six of the most common myths about this form of crypto to give you a clearer picture of whether or not it’s worth including it in your investment portfolio.

Myth #1- Bitcoin's Bubble Will Burst

A ‘bubble’ is an economic cycle defined by a massive yet unsustainable spike in market value, which eventually pops when investors determine that prices far exceed the basic value of the asset.

Some people have claimed that Bitcoin is a bubble and that it is only a matter of time before it bursts. However, since its launch in 2009, this crypto has gone through several cycles and regularly recovered to reach new highs.

While these oscillations form a pattern that is sometimes typical of young markets, many experts believe Bitcoin will eventually surge and recede with increasingly smaller swings and much longer periods between them until it eventually falls into a more stable pattern.

Myth #2 - Bitcoin does not have any tangible value

As Bitcoin is not linked to a physical asset, such as gold or silver, some people argue that it does not have any tangible value. However, neither does the US dollar, English pound, or any other contemporary fiat currency.

However, as Bitcoin has been hard-coded to be scarce (there will only ever be 21 million of them), it is resistant to inflation. Unlike with fiat currencies, where it can happen when large quantities of it are made and therefore dilute the present supply, the scarcity of Bitcoin is what drives its value.

Due to its supply being capped and a decline in the amount of new Bitcoin being mined, the value of Bitcoin should continue to trend upward over the long term. In mid-April 2024, it peaked at $66,000, a long way ahead of its less than one-cent value when it first traded in 2009.

Myth #3 - Bitcoin does not have any real-world uses

Some naysayers believe that Bitcoin does not have any obvious use in the real world other than illicit activity. However, this is simply not true.

In fact, throughout its history, Bitcoin has a solid track record of making payments to investors around the world without a payment processor or bank being in the middle of it. Moreover, it is being increasingly used by big-league institutional investors as a way to hedge against inflation.

Publicly traded companies and major funds like Microstrategy, Square, and Tesla have bought up billions of dollars' worth of Bitcoin to manage their assets in a savvier way.

Myth #4 - Bitcoin is not secure

One major misconception people have about Bitcoin is that it is not secure, which is based largely on the experiences of other crypto platforms and exchanges, most famously Mt Gox in 2011, which have suffered this fate.

However, since it was launched in 2009, the Bitcoin network has never once succumbed to hacking. What has happened, though, is that there have been attacks on third-party services and businesses that use Bitcoin, which have fuelled the misconception.

Bitcoin’s open-source code has been mulled over with a fine-tooth comb by scores of computer scientists and security experts, who pretty much agree the network is robust. This is because it was the first of all the digital cryptocurrencies to get a handle on facilitating ‘trustless’ peer-to-peer currencies.

Myth #5 - Bitcoin will eventually be replaced by something better

This actually might be partly true, in the sense that you can never say never. However, it is unlikely that it will happen anytime soon.

Bitcoin was the first type of digital currency to become successful, which has given it a distinct ‘first mover’ advantage. Something that is helped by being an open and decentralized currency.

Currently, it ensures a market share of about 60%, and while countless other cryptocurrencies have tried to overtake it by offering fancier bells and whistles, none have even come close.

To this day, Bitcoin retains the proud record of having always been the market’s most valuable cryptocurrency by market capitalisation.

Myth #6 - Bitcoin is not good for the environment

This myth is based on the perception that Bitcoin mining is a process that uses up lots of energy. However, it is difficult to ascertain for sure what its effect on the environment is. Not least because all facets of the digital economy are reliant upon energy, including the global banking system as a whole.

What is known is that a big portion of Bitcoin mining is facilitated by renewable energy sources like solar, hydro, and wind, with the actual number, according to the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index, ranging from between 20% to 70%

Additionally, recently published findings by the Ark Investment Management fund, which is based in New York, concluded that Bitcoin was a lot more efficient on a global scale than gold mining or traditional banking.

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