How many Bitcoins are lost forever?

[aakashsangwan]

According to me,  one third of all Bitcoins mined ever are lost either the private keys are lost or the owners don't remember their password.

[futurebit640]

According to me,  one third of all Bitcoins mined ever are lost either the private keys are lost or the owners don't remember their password.

Generally people end up losing coins when they (incorrectly) assume that the importing of the private key and subsequent sending of coins leaves the change on the original paper wallet. They then delete the wallet.dat and lose all of their coins.

[investspot]

I know it is a tricky question. What do you think, how many Bitcoins are lost forever and are 'out of the network' by lost private keys?

Who can figure it out?

[MinerHQ]

All my coins are not mined by my self so I didn't loose any of them so for. I don't keep much in stock, my stock will be always less than 2 BTC.

[tyz]

Well, there is no proper way to do it but you can collect proofed losses. There are some well-documented Bitcoin losses since 2009.
Further, an interesting question is, if the Bitcoins of around 1 mln which Satoshi Nakamoto owns are lost. I would give him credit for destroying the private keys for its accounts.

I know it is a tricky question. What do you think, how many Bitcoins are lost forever and are 'out of the network' by lost private keys?

Who can figure it out?

[Laila10]

Impossible to know, but I know of how feel loosing something 

[mattiadeabtc]

Impossible to know, but I know of how feel loosing something 

yeah, agree, times ago i lost few bitcoins....stupid me

[onurakkas]

i thought losted appx. 1 btc that gambling investment etc. i upset when remember it.

[gentlemand]

i thought losted appx. 1 btc that gambling investment etc. i upset when remember it.

It sounds like someone else now has it. We're talking about coins that are gone forever.

[Hazir]

Impossible to know, but I know of how feel loosing something 

yeah, agree, times ago i lost few bitcoins....stupid me

That is the correct answer, we only can know for sure number of bitcoin mined, lost coins will be always an unknown number and you can't estimate number of bitcoin lost, even remotely.
What is good in this whole situation it fact that lost coins are actually beneficial for bitcoin economy and because of that everyone's else coins are worth slightly more. Be happy.

[MoorChael]

This question is better to ask the statisticians.

[Betwrong]

I've heard that around 30% of all Bitcoins are lost forever, but i'm not sure uf ut's accurate

[Cryptology]

"None of them".

In theorically even lost private keys can be cracked (yes I know it takes millions of years with current technology, but it's not impossible).

Could be crackable faster sooner rather than later...
https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2015/08/nsa_plans_for_a.html

[Hopalong]

I've heard that around 30% of all Bitcoins are lost forever, but i'm not sure uf ut's accurate

It is not accurate but a qualified guess. Another qualified guess is that another 30% is out of circulation because people are holding for long term. Out of circulation means it has not moved for more than two years.

Leaving around a third of all bitcoin in circulation...

[lahm-44]

I think there are 1000+bitcoins are being lost till now..that's for sure that every body wil not say that I lost money(bitcoin) for simple stupidy or any type of carelessness or it can also happen accidently but its always a mystry

[aakashsangwan]

I think there are 1000+bitcoins are being lost till now..that's for sure that every body wil not say that I lost money(bitcoin) for simple stupidy or any type of carelessness or it can also happen accidently but its always a mystry

your speculation is very low.
At least 7600bitcoins of a person who I saw in news are lost and that are lying somewhere in the dump, because he threw his hard drive in trash and never took a backup of wallet.

[Nybbas01]

That's almost 10,000 BTC known to be lost. Probably it's much, much more. Would be interesting to have some website dedicated to those cases.

[fryarminer]

I just accidentally sent 2.4BTC to a wallet that I have forgotten the password for. Not calling them lost yet, but I'm racking my brain for hours and no luck.

[CarlesPuyol]

I just accidentally sent 2.4BTC to a wallet that I have forgotten the password for. Not calling them lost yet, but I'm racking my brain for hours and no luck.

Wow those are bad news, 2.4 btc is a real deal to lose.
Try to use all your passwords you have ever used, try all the combinations

[Mickeyb]

I just accidentally sent 2.4BTC to a wallet that I have forgotten the password for. Not calling them lost yet, but I'm racking my brain for hours and no luck.

Damn man, that hurts. I hope you will remember the password eventually. I never did something like this, but one time I have sent 4.2 BTCs instead of 2.4 when doing a trade with this unknown person online. I was tyred and it was late night. Luckily, this person was straight honest and returned the excess amount. Since then, I always triple, not double check. And if I am tired or nervous, I will check even 4-5 times. I guess this is the only way to be safe.