If current trends continue, observers predict that the last Bitcoin unit will be mined sometime in the mid-22nd century, for instance — not exactly around the corner.
— Mary Elizabeth Gately is representing the king at a rate of $1,335 per hour, according to a copy of the contract submitted to the department that was dated Sept. 20 and signed on Sept. 29, days before the consortium published a series of reports on Sunday. The king was just one of hundreds of global elites whose financial secrets were included in the Pandora Papers, the consortium’s latest trove of documents, though his attorneys denied to the ICIJ that he had done anything improper by purchasing the homes through offshore companies.

Mistakes like this happen throughout finance when, for instance, traders mess up details of their intended trades, entering the wrong price or order size. An erroneously large trade, as one example, can overwhelm an exchange's order book, leading to a quick and massive decline. The entire U.S. stock market famously flash crashed back in May 2010, though equities have mostly avoided trouble since that era.
Every cryptocurrency transaction is recorded in a public ledger known as the blockchain, which is the technology that makes it possible for it to exist. This allows people to follow the history of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to prevent them from spending coins they don't own, copying transactions, or undoing them. Because blockchain intends to eliminate intermediaries such as banks and internet marketplaces, there are no transaction costs.