Bitcoin Forum

I'm curious about how many Bitcoins are effectively dead (i.e., lost private keys, owner dies, etc.).  I imagine it is more than 10% of all coins.  It will happen less and less, but with so many people who mined when they were worth next to nothing, I would think most of the early Bitcoins died.  What do you think?

10% is too high, but if you consider Satoshi's btc dead coins I agree with you.

3-8% i think is lost, 10% so much. Most lost was on mtgox, by freezing accounts. Look on the fiats, people always lost that, more than btc. So you can to mind about that.

A more accurate question would be how many bitcoins are in circulation. Because that is what really affects the price, isn't it?

I think there's a thread around here somewhere that should give you a close enough answer to your question.

if block chain can provide an active graph and tell us how many bitcoins are being ciruculated and what has been dead for over a year might be cool to see.  Though Im sure it wont be an actual analysis but could help markets improve also with that kind of data.

That's a good point. Coins that are horded are like lost coins, in that they are unavailable for trade.

Like, but not the same. These can, and likely will, renter circulation given the right price.

Certainly true. I think our current crash is shaking out a lot of these coins now. When there is no one left but perma-hoarders, I believe a climb is in order.

Yes, but not really. Whether there be 21 million or 18 million really doesn't matter. What matters is that we know that bitcoins are rare, how many bitcoins are available for purchase and for how much those who own bitcoin are willing to sell them for. That is what affects the price when it comes down to it.

Nobody cares how many ounces of gold there are in the world..

I can't say I disagree that scarcity is the primary value proposition, but I'd say the dead Bitcoins do matter as they won't be turning up in a crash. 

I believe the current "crash" has a lot to do with companies like Dell and Overstock accepting bitcoins.  Having new opportunities to spend bitcoins would cause previous hoarders to spend.  Dell and Overstock don't hold the coins, they cash them out for another quick sale, which puts more coins on the sale side than the buy side.  In the future, as more people are regularly transacting in Bitcoin, this downward pressure should equalize.  But for now, there aren't enough people buying bitcoins. 

there is a slightly chance to recover those bitcoin/their private keys , maybe with a hard fork?

There is no reason to recover them.  Just a curiosity on part of how many of those are gone.

Overstock are at least keeping a percentage of bitcoin sales in bitcoin. I know what ya saying though.

This is a key question.  I would not be surprised if it was over a million coins (10%) in addition to Satoshi's.  However, I seriously doubt coins are being lost any more.

This thread (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=7253.0) made a ham fisted effort to tally up lost coins.

I'd say this is impossible to know.  It's kind of like asking how many people have buried coffee cans full of fiat-cash in their backyard but forgot where they put it.

This is a similar more in depth thread about lost bitcoins!

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=109117.0

BTC The Future!

More specifically the coins that are being traded on exchanges. I'm interested in knowing what the combined buy vs sell is across all exchanges.

they are still a factor though, because there is still potential in those coins going into circulation.

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQij5Pt8cvbdMvmFHeoIVNQZwMTL4vKIJBTQfff_LZ1698EDiIb9A
I see dead bitcoins?

i think so too, many to them lost

I have also thought about this and it would be curious to do a compilation of known lost wallets

I still hope to live long because bitcoin for 3 years of my life of bitcoin :)

jikalah it really does happen at least 5-10 years in the future until I get a high paid job and already established :)

Dead Bitcoins means higher price if the demand continues to grow, simple as that. And since bitcoins are so divisible it shouldn't suppose a big problem, of course I wonder what will happen by the time all Bitcoins are mined, probably lot of people will have lost their Bitcoins by them.

There was a thread here counting all the known lost bitcoins, maybe somebody could find it and post a link? It has been a while since I looked at that thread, but if I recall correctly they were up into the tens of thousands of lost bitcoins.

My buddy who turned me on to bitcoins lost over 200 because he sold an old outdated computer at a garage sale for $40 the guy bought it for parts he Assumed. A year later he remembered he had them on there once he found out btc hit $9 - Now he really hates himself.

My point is something like this has happened to so many people, I think 10% minimum went poof with lost wallets and old computers being trashed.

No matter how you try, bitcoin will always rise from the sahes 8) 8)