Lost Bitcoin a donation to everyone

[mynonce]

... but on the other hand, they just need to move on and forget about it cause it's part of the game where some will win and some will lose.

We don't know Satoshi's game and the plan for the lost coins, but this is also possible:

https://news.bitcoin.com/online-sleuths-believe-satoshi-nakamotos-bitcoin-stash-is-a-blockchain-treasure-hunt-meant-to-be-found/

'Lastly, the online detectives also discussed Satoshi’s famous lost coins quote: “Lost coins only make everyone else’s coins worth slightly more. Think of it as a donation to everyone.” Maybe, Satoshi wasn’t talking about coins lost over time, but the creator’s stash hidden inside the blockchain via text or a myriad of messages.

“Whoever is able to solve it, is the chosen person that Satoshi expects to succeed,” an individual wrote in the bitcointalk.org conversation. “It’s like a place to determine Satoshi’s legacy for us in the future. Is this a contest? A pirate treasure?” he asked.'

[RILWAN]

https://news.bitcoin.com/online-sleuths-believe-satoshi-nakamotos-bitcoin-stash-is-a-blockchain-treasure-hunt-meant-to-be-found/

'Lastly, the online detectives also discussed Satoshi’s famous lost coins quote: “Lost coins only make everyone else’s coins worth slightly more. Think of it as a donation to everyone.” Maybe, Satoshi wasn’t talking about coins lost over time, but the creator’s stash hidden inside the blockchain via text or a myriad of messages.

“Whoever can solve it, is the chosen person that Satoshi expects to succeed,” an individual wrote in the bitcointalk.org conversation. “It’s like a place to determine Satoshi’s legacy for us in the future. Is this a contest? A pirate treasure?” he asked.'

I don't think so, if Satoshi stashed Bitcoin in a treasure hunt then computer scientists would have uncovered it by now.
I think either Satoshi Bitcoin holding is lost forever to protect the market or one day he is going to carry out an activity on the wallet holding those Bitcoin.

[Oasisman]

I don't think so if one lost the Bitcoin, anyone will get it easily!? The person who had Bitcoins must aware his family or closed one that he has Bitcoins and have some access to use that. Most probably family or nearer one will help him/her to access the Bitcoin.

And in my thought it is impossible to access the bitcoins if it will be lost and it also can't be donated. It will be stucked in the Blockchain for lifetime.

I think you didn't understand the question from the OP.
Of course If you lose your private keys to your wallet, how are you or someone would be able to "literally" donate it to someone If in the first place it cannot be accessed and just like you say "stucked in the blockchain".

If you go back and read what Loyce have quoted you'll probably understand why lost Bitcoins can be considered as donation to the holders.

[PeRo]

Well, it sure is a donation.. and a very pricy one since I don't think it makes the much of an impact. Maybe it will pay off once we get close to the max supply. Either way I wouldn't want to be the one donating

[The Cryptovator]

Lost means its list for you. Not for others, because this is still in the Bitcoin blockchain. When a coin is stuck in a chain due to sending the wrong address or lost private keys mean circulation supply has been reducing which will lead to potential price up. So here LoyceV presented Satoshi quote which is true ever. It's like a donation to all holders since they get the benefits of reduced circulation.

However, I don't like this donation for me and others as well. It would be a pain forever.
 

[hatshepsut93]

If the owner of lost coins planned to never sell them and use them as a currency, then the loss wasn't really a donation, because those coins wouldn't have been dumped on the market anyway. Also, the market doesn't know if a coin is lost or not, no one can know that, aside from the owner. So the market can't react to, let's say some news that say "1,000 BTC was lost today".

[carrigan]

Many people have lost their Bitcoins for various reasons. There are several ways to secure your Bitcoins, such as keeping the security code from being spread and really having to keep it a secret even with those closest to you. Bitcoin is a valuable asset that is hard to come by, so it would be a shame to lose it especially because you were deceived. But I don't think of this as a donation for everyone.

[josephdd1]

I read on lost Bitcoin today on the coin telegram on the topic of lost Bitcoin and I stopped to wonder what benefits the lost Bitcoin are to every holder, there is no gainsaying how much Bitcoin we have all lost due to one reason or the other some to a wrong address I hard of a guy that lost the private key to a wallet holding about 13,000 Bitcoin and wants to ask should we take such accidents as a donation to Bitcoin holders?

The smaller circulating supply is, the bigger price will be as when something is limited, it has additional value due to this fact. So actually, when someone loses his access to a wallet or just loses Bitcoin someway, they decreases Bitcoin offer and, as a result, the price of Bitcoin will be higher in case that demand remain at the same level.

[keyscore44]

The biggest charm of Bitcoin is its principle, lost is lost, lost is lost, so it highlights its precious, just like a diamond fell into the sea can not be found.

Well, it's not like a lost diamond in the ocean. The amount of Bitcoins is limited to 21M. This is not a large number considering that theoretically it would be adopted as a popular form of payment in the world. When someone loses Bitcoin or a few or several thousand Bitcoins, it reduces its supply even more. This makes that in some micro scale (theoretically) increase its value, so it is a kind of a donation for everyone else who owns Bitcoins.

[passwordnow]

You can think of it like that. They've contributed that much since there's no way to retrieve those lost bitcoins forever so the value that they add to the economy is high.
And that's a guarantee that bitcoin won't be going to zero since the value of those lost bitcoins will stay in the market. So if there are still people that are telling you that, just smile at them if they don't know that there are lost bitcoins forever.

[Ararbermas]

I read on lost Bitcoin today on the coin telegram on the topic of lost Bitcoin and I stopped to wonder what benefits the lost Bitcoin are to every holder, there is no gainsaying how much Bitcoin we have all lost due to one reason or the other some to a wrong address I hard of a guy that lost the private key to a wallet holding about 13,000 Bitcoin and wants to ask should we take such accidents as a donation to Bitcoin holders?

donation for what? How can holders get benefits from it? They were lost forever so if you think it can save the price of bitcoin from the fluctuation because of that reasons, stop it as it's very obvious that its still useless because big investors still have the power to manipulate the market even though there are some lost bitcoin in the space, they're affected as well indeed so its nothing in my personal opinion.

[AicecreaME]

I read on lost Bitcoin today on the coin telegram on the topic of lost Bitcoin and I stopped to wonder what benefits the lost Bitcoin are to every holder, there is no gainsaying how much Bitcoin we have all lost due to one reason or the other some to a wrong address I hard of a guy that lost the private key to a wallet holding about 13,000 Bitcoin and wants to ask should we take such accidents as a donation to Bitcoin holders?

Lost bitcoins aren't really counted as a donation to other bitcoin holders because once a coin is lost due to human error, it cannot be benefited by anyone anymore. Unless, you have mistakenly sent the bitcoin to an active user, then just consider it as a donation and an experience you should learn upon. Lost bitcoins and other coins are trapped in the blockchain which cannot be retrieved, therefore no one will be able to utilize it. Meanwhile, those coins that are held in an account and then the owner suddenly forgets the seedphrase or password can no longer be accessed too. There is a very slim chance of getting your account back once you've forgotten the important information that are needed for you to open your account. There are some people who offer such retrieval services but most of them are probably scams.

The lost coins and impossible to recover accounts with coins just contribute to the basic supply and demand law. The moment either or both aforementioned situation happen, the supply will be little and the demand will be big, resulting to higher price value of the coin. I think this is more on contributing to the community and position status rather than being a donation.

Losing a coin or forgetting the significant details are very much saddening. I encountered many scenarios about it and I know it is indeed heart-wrenching to the owner. It's really needed for us to be careful and mindful whenever we make any transaction to avoid these kinds of losses. We are responsible for our own funds, hence we should do everything that we can to protect it.

[Lucius]

donation for what? How can holders get benefits from it?

Sadly, after so much time on the forum, you didn’t understand some basic things. Satoshi explained it in the simplest way, he is even quoted in this thread. In short, the total amount of Bitcoin that can exist is 21 million (more precisely a little less than that), so every lost Bitcoin reduces that number and makes Bitcoin more scarce. Imagine what the situation would be like today if Bitcoin was capped at 12 million or that number is 40 million?

They were lost forever so if you think it can save the price of bitcoin from the fluctuation because of that reasons, stop it as it's very obvious that its still useless because big investors still have the power to manipulate the market even though there are some lost bitcoin in the space, they're affected as well indeed so its nothing in my personal opinion.

Of course, they can manipulate the crypto market, just like any other market if you have a lot of money and knowledge on how to do it. Everyone wants Bitcoin to be more adaptable, to be available to everyone and everywhere - but not to be available to people who want to make money on it. I can only tell you that you can continue to live in illusion, or accept reality.

[Maslate]

It will never be a donation as you need a recipient in order to call it a donation, the lost bitcoin are lost in circulation, which means the supply will decrease and our chances of getting more profitable in the future are higher. You should know the law of supply and demand, it pretty much applicable to crypto, especially with bitcoin.

[oemar bakrie]

no one will be responsible if you lose crypto such as bitcoin or others, because all of our own negligence and also cannot ask for a return personally too..
.who are responsible for ourselves, why do we have to make mistakes it all depends on us how to deal with our negligence.

[JohnBitCo]

I read on lost Bitcoin today on the coin telegram on the topic of lost Bitcoin and I stopped to wonder what benefits the lost Bitcoin are to every holder, there is no gainsaying how much Bitcoin we have all lost due to one reason or the other some to a wrong address I hard of a guy that lost the private key to a wallet holding about 13,000 Bitcoin and wants to ask should we take such accidents as a donation to Bitcoin holders?

First, you should know that bitcoin has a fixed supply and there is no way this supply can be increased. Now if we take the lost bitcoin out of the total supply, this will make bitcoin supply less practically. That lost bitcoins are of no use because no one can spend them or use them.

[jaberwock]

I read on lost Bitcoin today on the coin telegram on the topic of lost Bitcoin and I stopped to wonder what benefits the lost Bitcoin are to every holder, there is no gainsaying how much Bitcoin we have all lost due to one reason or the other some to a wrong address I hard of a guy that lost the private key to a wallet holding about 13,000 Bitcoin and wants to ask should we take such accidents as a donation to Bitcoin holders?

Well, in a kind of way you are right, money that are lost in cryptocurrency can’t be recovered, as long as the owners don’t have access to it again or they don’t have their private keys, there will be no way for it to be recovered.

So, it’s best that we see it as a donation to the Bitcoin blockchain or market, because those money are now like an investment that the users have decided to invest and leave it there, and is now part of the market and just stays there in form of a fund that is there to support the Bitcoin market. So, you have really made a point. But I know that those who have lost their bitcoins would be happy if they are to get access back into it, and they wouldn’t waste anytime at all in selling it, that I know for sure.

[mynonce]

Why not give it to everyone? ...

As discussed by Andreas Antonopaolous in his video, there is a hypothetical scenario where lost bitcoins can be accessed but in the distant future; when SHA256 breaks apart due to rapid technological advancements.

Antonopoulos stated:

“The cryptographic keys and algorithms used in Bitcoin do not last forever [anyway]. At some point, the elliptic curve digital signature algorithm (ECDSA) and SHA-256 will be obsolete. Maybe in ten or twenty years; certainly less than fifty years. They will no longer be strong enough to protect coins that haven’t been switched over to… a stronger cryptographic algorithm.”

Moreover, Antonopoulos added that the Bitcoin code needs to be recycled from time-to-time into better cryptographic algorithms; people with enough computing power should/could break keys and retrieve the lost coins. He also added that recovered BTC could act as ‘bounty’ for dedicating their resources.

“Essentially, it creates a bounty for testing the system, and rewards people who [exercise their skills].”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYtAevJIy5E
Minute [4:20 - 7:50]

[panukurap]

I don't think losing Bitcoin counts as a donation to Bitcoin holders. Instead I think this is due to carelessness so that their Bitcoin code is known to someone else and that person stole it. Therefore we must remain vigilant and be careful to keep the code secret to keep it safe. Do not easily trust others, even those closest to you. Humans can sometimes turn into animals because of urgent circumstances, especially in economic or financial matters.

[worle1bm]

The lost bitcoin will simply reduce the supply of the total coins that will ever be mined of 21 million and 90% has been mined till now.There are many other like him who have lost their keys holding million dollars worth of bitcoin in them but this simply increase the price with high demand and low supply the simple rule of economics.You can think of it as donation or anything but that surely shrink the supply overall.We will see how many can safely store it till last.