Random thoughts on future Bitcoin supply

[RapTarX]

What will happen to my bitcoin after I die? This is the question that comes to my head while I was thinking about my future, wealth, etc.
I don't hold lots of bitcoin; there are people who own thousands of bitcoin. What if they die suddenly without sharing anyone about their wealth? We have lost lots of bitcoin already from the circulation but after a decade or two, I guess the number of lost bitcoin will be huge. The supply of bitcoin is limited by nature. With the lost bitcoin, it's getting more scarce. At some point, after few decades, the supply will huge limited.
What effect do you think will it have on bitcoin? Certainly, you may think that price will be higher. Well, it will certainly but will it anymore be usable? With very much limited supply, won't it create disruption? Or, it will be as precious as diamond; I mean very much rare.

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[Pizzalover420]

It is inevitable, circulating bitcoin supply will be 0, in the far distant future.
I think around 20% of supply is already lost due to dust forever.

[Mpamaegbu]

I am one of those who believe that Bitcoin supply in circulation can never be 21 million when it's finally mined. The reason being of lost Bitcoin due to inaccessibility from hodlers who might've died leaving no access to their wallets or those who are alive but can't assess their wallets. It's sour grapes if we put all that into consideration. On the second question, I think scarce supply will increase the demand and further drive price up. It's a win for early adopters who are still keeping their Bitcoin and also for the entire community.

[fiulpro]

Hello
Most of the wallets are actually giving people an option to add someone of their family or friends to be passed on BTC when something happens to you.
Let me give an example of the wallet that am using.
The wallet that am using right now is : Zebpay and there few months before the wallet added Nominee option so you can just send them the number and details on the mail and the wallet company would give the custody of the wallet to the person who is noted down there, therefore for me I would ofcourse pass it down to my mom and therefore submitted her details and everything. But other than that there are wallets which do not have such options.
Well about the lost bitcoins I do think that you have to understand that these so called lost bitcoins would be actually sort of a stability option for us , the people won't be able to use it therefore it's not bad for us but ofcourse bad for the person. It would be a long term holding situation.

[bekti3]

I think many bitcoin users have died and left their bitcoins in their wallets which have been buried up to now. For example, not in large quantities, for example 0.01 bitcoins, but if there are 10 people who die, then if it is accumulated, many bitcoins will be buried and cannot be transferred to the second hand (inheritance). Bitcoin is no different from inheritance, it has the same value.


Ah, unfortunately, when it comes to dying and leaving bitcoin, it doesn't seem like everyone will be ready.

[Ultegra134]

It is inevitable, circulating bitcoin supply will be 0, in the far distant future.
I think around 20% of supply is already lost due to dust forever.

I agree, unfortunately, there is a large amount of Bitcoin that is lost, either in forgotten wallets, lost HDDs, passwords and the list goes on. It's inevitable, thus, the amount in circulation will always be less than 21 million. And to answer the OP's question, if you die, the possibilities are that nothing will happen to them. Nada.
Unless you leave the details, wallet file or whatever, to someone, I think it's practically impossible for someone to regain access. I haven't come across any wallet myself though, that lets you pass your BTC when you die, like others have posted.

[RapTarX]

Let me give an example of the wallet that am using.
The wallet that am using right now is : Zebpay and there few months before the wallet added Nominee

It's the same as a bank; a centralized custodial wallet which I doubt most of the users would use. If you are a little concerned about bitcoin, you should never use a custodial wallet. For your info, I'm certainly not talking about such wallet; they can be accessed anytime if anyone have enough proof. On the other hand, wallet like bitcoin core have the private key or the wallet file itself can be encrypted with a password which may no one know. Or a paper wallet hidden in a very secret place or an electrum wallet which seed is known to the owner only.

[Argoo]

What will happen to my bitcoin after I die? This is the question that comes to my head while I was thinking about my future, wealth, etc.
I don't hold lots of bitcoin; there are people who own thousands of bitcoin. What if they die suddenly without sharing anyone about their wealth? We have lost lots of bitcoin already from the circulation but after a decade or two, I guess the number of lost bitcoin will be huge. The supply of bitcoin is limited by nature. With the lost bitcoin, it's getting more scarce. At some point, after few decades, the supply will huge limited.
What effect do you think will it have on bitcoin? Certainly, you may think that price will be higher. Well, it will certainly but will it anymore be usable? With very much limited supply, won't it create disruption? Or, it will be as precious as diamond; I mean very much rare.

Of course, over time, the number of bitcoins to which access is lost will only increase. People die or make various mistakes, as a result of which access to their bitcoins is lost. However, cryptocurrency and new technologies continue to evolve. Quantum computers are coming soon. They may be a salvation for bitcoins, to which access has been lost, but also a big threat to the rest of the cryptocurrency. Whether by that time protection against them will appear is still unknown.

[Natsuu]

The smaller the supply, the higher the price. And it will undeniably be the case if the 21million coins will be thinned up to let's say 100,000. By that time this happens, due to the death of hodlers, or any other scenarios. BTC might even reach a million dollars apiece.  and yes it will still be usable, as by that time, the world may have already adopted cryptocurrency, and its function to the society we currently living in are already established.

[DdmrDdmr]

Not much to go on from a quantitative point of view, but the following provides some (perhaps biased) qualitative insights as to how well planned and tested our crypto inheritance is in a given moment in time: Halloween inspired poll –would your Bitcoins get passed on if you suddenly died?

Results (Poll run for 15 days)

Roughly 2/3 of our assets are at some level of risk currently of not being inherited (as I said, this is likely biased), and although throughout one’s lifetime one will likely reflect, and deploy some sort of temptative solution, many things can go wrong both out our side and the inheritor’s side. Even being technological savy does not warrant anything as we’ve recently seen. All in all, less effective circulating supply over time …

[hatshepsut93]

With very much limited supply, won't it create disruption?

No it won't, there's enough units to not worry about it, and Lightning Network, which likely will be widely adopted by then, allows even smaller units. If more and more coins would be getting lost, it would only mean even faster price growth, because there will be less coins on the market.

For now not a lot of people plan for Bitcoin inheritance because it's still hard to setup, but in the future it will probably become a norm and there will be more tools available.

[Stalker22]

From my own experience, I know that when I die, the digital assets I own today won't be accessible to anyone. But, in the future, I will ensure that my heirs have access to my cold storage wallets. It's probably going to be in the form of a paper wallet deposited in a safe deposit box in a bank or something like that. But I understand your thinking. Many bitcoins are likely to be lost forever after the death of the original owners.

[rokon1234]

I think all bitcoin owners should pay attention to this and they should tell someone about this huge amount of bitcoin.Because, if they forget to tell about this, it will really affect bitcoin after their death.As a result, the supply of bitcoin will be reduced and it will be out of reach of people. So,everyone should be aware of this from now on.

[Lorence.xD]

If you are so worried about your bitcoin losing after you die, you might want to change the way you view your wallet, find a special someone to share your secrets. Or get a lawyer to get all your affairs in place, make a will that consists of keys that are needed to access your cold wallet or if you want to, you can buy a safe and put your cold wallet and the keys to that place never to be seen for a long time. Those who will inherit bitcoin will be far richer than anyone in the future because there will be a lot of lost coins by that time. Mortality is inevitable but we have to accept it, do not get the feeling of dread over those things, it will only hinder how you will live your life.

[Hippocrypto]

From my own experience, I know that when I die, the digital assets I own today won't be accessible to anyone. But, in the future, I will ensure that my heirs have access to my cold storage wallets. It's probably going to be in the form of a paper wallet deposited in a safe deposit box in a bank or something like that. But I understand your thinking. Many bitcoins are likely to be lost forever after the death of the original owners.

The most important ways to deal on that access of security, you should have an alternative owner who can view your bitcoin asset. You must let that person gain full rights to open that asset second to you, and by the time an owner dies that asset won't remain stagnant. We must choose our nearest relative, it could be your parents if single then your wife and childrens once you're a married person.

[meanwords]

A good thread about what will happen if we die https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5284824.msg55467254#msg55467254

As we all know, bitcoin is already precious as it is. Bitcoin will only become rarer as more Bitcoin get lost so it's pretty inevitable. I think there won't be any significant changes though because it's not like Bitcoin will suddenly lost a huge chunk of its supply suddenly, it's going to be gradual and the economy will have an adjustment according to it.

[Pearls Before Swine]

It is inevitable, circulating bitcoin supply will be 0, in the far distant future.

Who knows if bitcoin would even exist anyway 'in the far distant future'.  There could be something that comes along that will make bitcoin obsolete well before all the coins are lost due to death and not transferring the private keys to any survivors.

You couldn't exactly call me crypto rich, but I keep every coin I have in a hardware wallet, and the seed phrase is written down and stored away securely.  If I should die unexpectedly, anyone going through my personal effects would be able to *hopefully* interpret what they're seeing and gain access to my coins.  What I haven't done is tell anyone specific what to look for, and that's something I should probably do.  I'm relatively young and don't expect to die suddenly, but you never know.

[squatter]

I don't hold lots of bitcoin; there are people who own thousands of bitcoin. What if they die suddenly without sharing anyone about their wealth? We have lost lots of bitcoin already from the circulation but after a decade or two, I guess the number of lost bitcoin will be huge. The supply of bitcoin is limited by nature. With the lost bitcoin, it's getting more scarce. At some point, after few decades, the supply will huge limited.

My theory is that the rate of bitcoins lost is inversely related to the price. As they've become increasingly valuable, security has become of the utmost importance. Hardware wallets are the norm for new users. Institutions only want to work with qualified custodians with battled-tested cold storage.

I also think we are entering an era where bequeathing bitcoins will become commonplace, both through trusted legal channels and privately.

What effect do you think will it have on bitcoin? Certainly, you may think that price will be higher. Well, it will certainly but will it anymore be usable? With very much limited supply, won't it create disruption? Or, it will be as precious as diamond; I mean very much rare.

It's still a donation to the rest of us in an economic sense. In terms of network effect, I would anticipate a much larger network in the future regardless -- it doesn't matter the number of coins that are lost.

Future adopters just won't own as many bitcoins as early adopters. That much is already obvious.

[AakZaki]

circulating bitcoins in circulation will never reach 21 million. among others, because some bitcoin wallets that contain a lot of bitcoin are left behind and cannot be opened with any access.
When bitcoin starts to become scarce, of course the price of bitcoin will be even more expensive. Just imagine in the future the price of bitcoin will reach how many thousand or dollar ruler. there's no denying it
Bitcoin is the most valuable digital asset today, although with high vitality.

[Annie Bevan4578]

But as you know, the technology is developing, maybe people will have an ability could select bitcoin like 0.00001 when they are mining, it is a good way to contral bitcoin's price. And you are right, if you died and noone knows you have bitcoin, they will be lost forever......so the people who have bitcoin should try to avoid it happens.