Can bitcoins be lost?

[ascent]

You have this thread and the one I linked to earlier in this thread. Read. I'm done.

[myrkul]

Awww... it was just getting good. You were going to explain to me how people could tell which coins were saved and which ones were lost.

[ascent]

Awww... it was just getting good. You were going to explain to me how people could tell which coins were saved and which ones were lost.

I was? If you'd bother to read what you have been encouraged to read, you'd realize that's why the uncertainty becomes greater in the future. At this point, I could point you to the dictionary's definition of obtuse, but you just sound like a troll.

[myrkul]

Awww... it was just getting good. You were going to explain to me how people could tell which coins were saved and which ones were lost.

I was? If you'd bother to read what you have been encouraged to read, you'd realize that's why the uncertainty becomes greater in the future. At this point, I could point you to the dictionary's definition of obtuse, but you just sound like a troll.

Yes, yes, you worry that because bitcoins might be 'lost', and might suddenly come back on the market, that people will be uncertain of the total amount in circulation. I contend that if they assume that there are 21million available for circulation, no currency dump, no matter how large, will depress the price significantly or long-term. Since coins that are gone for good because someone lost the private key and coins that are out of circulation because someone is saving are functionally identical, the only way for the market to function is to assume 21 million coins. Any other assumption leads to exactly the problem you point out.

[jollyjim]

You seem to be trying to convince me that being rich is a bad thing.

No. I am not. You can go back and read my entries again if you wish to continue.

So you're basically not a risk taker and are fine with being mediocre with no chance of becoming rich?  That's fine for risk adverse people but there are plenty of others that enjoy investing/saving in hopes of becoming rich.

[anna.murphy]

Check your premises.

If the rest of the world assumes that there are 1000 Bitcoins out there, and I assume that there are 21 million, Prices would be lower than my expectations. I would be able to buy even more than I expected with the bitcoins I had.

...I don't see a problem with that.

...
And when you want to sell one hour of your time for 1BTC and everybody say no, it worth only 0.0000001 BTC. What will you do ?

If everybody think there is 21 000 000 BTC in world and there is only 1 000. What will happen ? BTC will be really rare, so they will worth a lot. It's stupid to assume there is 21 000 000BTC. You must only watch the flows and adapt to them.

[myrkul]

Check your premises.

If the rest of the world assumes that there are 1000 Bitcoins out there, and I assume that there are 21 million, Prices would be lower than my expectations. I would be able to buy even more than I expected with the bitcoins I had.

...I don't see a problem with that.

...
And when you want to sell one hour of your time for 1BTC and everybody say no, it worth only 0.0000001 BTC. What will you do ?

If everybody think there is 21 000 000 BTC in world and there is only 1 000. What will happen ? BTC will be really rare, so they will worth a lot. It's stupid to assume there is 21 000 000BTC. You must only watch the flows and adapt to them.

I will either work for 1 satoshi an hour, or I won't work. More likely, though, I'll find someone willing to pay more, even if it is less than what I was asking.

As the recent instability has shown, It's stupid to think the bitcoins you see are the only ones there are.

[anna.murphy]

Check your premises.

If the rest of the world assumes that there are 1000 Bitcoins out there, and I assume that there are 21 million, Prices would be lower than my expectations. I would be able to buy even more than I expected with the bitcoins I had.

...I don't see a problem with that.

...
And when you want to sell one hour of your time for 1BTC and everybody say no, it worth only 0.0000001 BTC. What will you do ?

If everybody think there is 21 000 000 BTC in world and there is only 1 000. What will happen ? BTC will be really rare, so they will worth a lot. It's stupid to assume there is 21 000 000BTC. You must only watch the flows and adapt to them.

I will either work for 1 satoshi an hour, or I won't work. More likely, though, I'll find someone willing to pay more, even if it is less than what I was asking.

As the recent instability has shown, It's stupid to think the bitcoins you see are the only ones there are.

Of course we must be watching sleeping wallet. But we have to adapt to market.

P.S: Everybody: don't panic about lost BTC, when computer will become more powerfull, we will upgrade all our addresses to prevent cracking. And addresses that were not updated will be cracked. So BTC will never be lost. That's my point. I want to break the myth about lost BTC.

[smoothie]

You are spot on. Simply put, make a copy/backup of your wallet file and store it on another medium (i.e. hard drive, flash drive, separate pc, etc.).

[muc]

I'm sorry but I don't get the point of this thread.

Can you lose bitcoin currency?

Hmmm

Yesterday I threw my laptop overboard and watched it sink beneath the waves. I guess I lost all of my bitcoin currency that was on in it. I guess I should have backed-up my wallet.dat and kept it in a secure location.

[smoothie]

Who would throw their laptop into the water if it wasn't broken?

Sell it to me for BTC!