21 million not never !!!

[cloud36649]

how many of currently mined bitcoins are lost forever?

It's a very interesting question, unfortunately it seems to be a very difficult thing to verify/determine with certainty. Because Bitcoin is divisible into much smaller units, I don't think that "lost Bitcoin" will really be at the forefront of Bitcoin-related issues any time soon.

[funtotry]

how many of currently mined bitcoins are lost forever?

In bitcoin nothing is lost "forever", given enough time its possible for one person to own every single bitcoin private key. The time it would take this with our current computing power is incomprehensible, but in maybe 1000 years we will have a computer being able to do this. In our lifetime the technology will definitely not be created but all bitcoins are not "lost forever".

[kenbytes]

there is a post on the italian section of the forum in which all the movements of all the wallets since 2009, we have considered that the wallets with no input or out for more than 2 years are to be considered  dead https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=353156.120

[Lauda]

how many of currently mined bitcoins are lost forever?

In bitcoin nothing is lost "forever", given enough time its possible for one person to own every single bitcoin private key. The time it would take this with our current computing power is incomprehensible, but in maybe 1000 years we will have a computer being able to do this. In our lifetime the technology will definitely not be created but all bitcoins are not "lost forever".

You're talking nonsense. Stop spreading false information. Even if we find a way to easily crack SHA-256 in 1000 years, do you think that by then we would still be using SHA-256? It would be easily increased by tenfold or replaced by something else entirely.
Good luck trying to get a hold of someones private key. If this event occurs Bitcoin would quickly die, as all trust would be lost and the price would plummet.

As for lost Bitcoins, we can't really say. The same thing happens with every currency. How do you know that the address that you're sending to isn't still owned by someone?
There was a thread in which they've tried to estimate the loss by summing up known losses.

[roadbits]

I don't have a problem with some bitcoins being destroyed/lost because it makes mine more valuable in the long run.

[GreenStox]

how many of currently mined bitcoins are lost forever?

Well you know if normal currencies are lost, the CB will just print more, thus decreasing the value of lost coins to replace them with fresh circulating ones.

In BTC all supply is fixed, or atleast ithas a hard cap. I would be interesting that after 1 million years only 1 bitcoin would be in circulation, because everyone else would have lost their private keys.

And that 1 Bitcoin would be worth the entire Planet's money/wealth

[sgk]

Read an article once, author claimed up to 30% coins are lost forever.

Those 30% are not lost coins, but 'zombie' coins.

NVIDIA engineer John Ratcliff calculated in June 2014 that “zombie coins”, defined as those which have lay dormant for at least a year and a half, accounted for 30 per cent of all Bitcoins.
Those coins were bought for just a few cents, so the lack of profit-taking despite a return of 4,000 per cent seems to rule out the possibility that they're simply long-term savings.

For more detailed analysis of 'disappeared' Bitcoins (lost coins, zombie coins, satoshi's coins, burnt coins etc.), read the full article here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/11362827/The-625m-lost-forever-the-phenomenon-of-disappearing-Bitcoins.html

[MiningAtlas]

how many of currently mined bitcoins are lost forever?

Probably more than we think.  makes you wonder though why didnt satoshi create bitcoin for it was mined forever hmmm.

[BitBOOM]

I would guess 4-8%

[tspacepilot]

how many of currently mined bitcoins are lost forever?

Another thing which often gets brought up in this context is that while currently bitcoins are only divided to 8 decimal places.  In principle we can continue to subdivide existing bitcoins if for some reason, so  many bitcoins get lost that 1 Satoshi is extremely valuable.

[koelen3]

I never mined bitcoins, come to think of it,it  really feels strange , have known BTC from quite some time now but still , well i wasn't into bitcoins much before

[uki]

That no transactions are made not mean who are lost or "abandoned". Some people do not open their wallets for years, and do not think they will be open until the last Bitcoin be mined.

exactly, that is the point. All these 'analysis' are forgetting to easily about this fact.

[bryant.coleman]

Read an article once, author claimed up to 30% coins are lost forever.

That is quite possible. Some of the earliest miners just threw away their coins, or lost them because of negligence. However it is almost impossible to confirm this amount. Here is a thread which will help you with this:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=7253.0

[toytoboy]

Read an article once, author claimed up to 30% coins are lost forever.

Why 30% lost forever ? Give out a reason to convince me !

[Amph]

30% seems a big number if it is based on the max supply, because it mean that 50% of current total coins in circulation is lost forever, personally i don't think so, it's an amount too big to be true

[bryant.coleman]

30% seems a big number if it is based on the max supply, because it mean that 50% of current total coins in circulation is lost forever, personally i don't think so, it's an amount too big to be true

It is unlikely, but not impossible. In 2009 and 2010, more than 5 million coins were mined. No one realized the real value of Bitcoin back then, and a lot of coins were lost as a result of negligence.

[Wheelys]

I would guess 5-10% is a realistic number, but next to impossible to verify.

[GreenStox]

What if Satoshi threw away his private keys where he held that many bitcoins, so that even if they get to him they cant steal his bitcoins?

Because if this is true, then the bitcoin price cant really go below 100$ cant it?

[tspacepilot]

What if Satoshi threw away his private keys where he held that many bitcoins, so that even if they get to him they cant steal his bitcoins?

Because if this is true, then the bitcoin price cant really go below 100$ cant it?

Unless people realize that he's not a hodler but a I-lost-my-keys-er.  One person can't define a market.  If it comes down to only Satoshi holding bitcoins, then the price will certainly be 0 (by definition: no one wants bitcoins but Satoshi, and he has them).  So, I think markets can't really be reduced to such a simple example.  But I guess it has some value as a thought experiment.

[Amph]

What if Satoshi threw away his private keys where he held that many bitcoins, so that even if they get to him they cant steal his bitcoins?

Because if this is true, then the bitcoin price cant really go below 100$ cant it?

if the 30% of bitcoin lost is true then the price, should not go even below 1k, but we are at 200, the price is more related to interest(you can call this adoption) of people in bitcoin than its supply