Lost Bitcoin?

[dothebeats]

AFAIK, they assume that coins that haven't had any movements for the past 5+ years or so are considered lost bitcoins. There really isn't any way of saying that these are lost; some of these coins are just safekept for the future. No connection to the internet means a high chance that the machine storing those keys and those coins won't be compromised. There's a lot of factors that should be considered before stating that coins are lost forever, and this is a good article that ponders on this topic.

[Wiwo]

If we want crypto currency to be a currency we have to keep spending right? But at the same time it's something worth keeping too since I do the same with my fiat in bank for more than 2years without touching it. Is it possible to say that Bitcoin in every wallet for the past 2years without moving are considered lost due to death or lost recovery keys? It's pretty hard to believe that anyone won't come back for their Bitcoin after 2years with no activities on the wallet.

What makes you think that an inactive wallet is a dead wallet, even if it stays inactive for long period, I am not convinced that even Satoshi wallet will remain inactive forever since Bitcoin is developed to promote anonymity and privacy,  Bitcoin is hard to be tied to an individual most especially in self custody wallet, it becomes clear how no bitcoin should be termed as dead on forever inactive and the advantage that these inactive wallets have on the networks is that it contribucontributesstability of the market movement and aid scarcity of Bitcoin as long as there remain inactive.
-That is why you hear some slogans such as, lost Bitcoin is a donation to everyone holding bitcoin, what that means is, the amount in the circulating supply will become limited and this will force the price to increase.

[_BlackStar]

AFAIK, they assume that coins that haven't had any movements for the past 5+ years or so are considered lost bitcoins. There really isn't any way of saying that these are lost; some of these coins are just safekept for the future. No connection to the internet means a high chance that the machine storing those keys and those coins won't be compromised. There's a lot of factors that should be considered before stating that coins are lost forever, and this is a good article that ponders on this topic.

Losing access to the wallet is usually the reason why most users lose their bitcoins. While a coin that hasn't moved for more than 2-5 years cannot be guaranteed dead as anyone looking to invest long term will definitely regularly check that they have valid access to their wallet. This will be different from hacking cases where bitcoin are stolen by hackers, and lost bitcoins can be interpreted as losing access to a user's wallet where in the end they can no longer transfer their bitcoins at any time to another wallet.

[KennyR]

Just because those coins that aren't transacted for a long time being considered lost doesn't mean they can't be used forever. It is like what we have with traditional long term investment. When one holds the access to the wallet, there is nothing to worry how long the wallet is being kept idle without any transaction. The bitcoin in the wallet will be considered and the same helps with different calculation in the market.

[boyptc]

2 years won't be enough to say that they're lost forever. Here's a news that hasn't been moved for 11 years --> https://decrypt.co/120905/dormant-bitcoin-address-moves-400-btc-after-11-years

Long term holders are wise.

We can't assume that if a wallet didn't have any activity for 2 years, they're already lost. Just like what's with this news, after 11 years it has moved.

[letteredhub]

If we want crypto currency to be a currency we have to keep spending right? But at the same time it's something worth keeping too since I do the same with my fiat in bank for more than 2years without touching it. Is it possible to say that Bitcoin in every wallets for the past 2years without moving are considered lost due to death or lost recovery keys? It's pretty hard to believe that anyone won't come back for their Bitcoin after 2years with no activities on the wallet.

We can't consider a bitcoin in a wallet to be a lost one all because it has been in the wallet untouched or unattended to for two years or more, just like the fiat money deposited for savings in like manner an owner of bitcoin can imply such choice with his asset keeping his keys safe and secure, for anyone can have such plans so it's not wise to think it's owner might have been deceased and as to why the asset has been untouched for such a long period. In 10 cases it could be 2 losses but how then do you know for sure!

[xSkylarx]

If we want crypto currency to be a currency we have to keep spending right? But at the same time it's something worth keeping too since I do the same with my fiat in bank for more than 2years without touching it. Is it possible to say that Bitcoin in every wallets for the past 2years without moving are considered lost due to death or lost recovery keys? It's pretty hard to believe that anyone won't come back for their Bitcoin after 2years with no activities on the wallet.

We can't consider a bitcoin in a wallet to be a lost one all because it has been in the wallet untouched or unattended to for two years or more, just like the fiat money deposited for savings in like manner an owner of bitcoin can imply such choice with his asset keeping his keys safe and secure, for anyone can have such plans so it's not wise to think it's owner might have been deceased and as to why the asset has been untouched for such a long period. In 10 cases it could be 2 losses but how then do you know for sure!

But it will be confirmed later on if the owner really died, like 6–8 years passed, and still there are no transactions on that address, then it could be concluded at that time that it's lost, and it is not like the bank, where if you are a relative you can still get the funds, but in bitcoin you can't if you don't have the private keys. That is why it is better to tell someone about it so that whatever happens, they can still access it.

[bounceback]

Is it possible to say that Bitcoin in every wallets for the past 2years without moving are considered lost due to death or lost recovery keys? It's pretty hard to believe that anyone won't come back for their Bitcoin after 2years with no activities on the wallet.

We cannot decide too soon that a bitcoin that has not been active for 2 years in a wallet is a bitcoin that is lost or whose holdings can no longer access the wallet, because sometimes many investors make long-term investments and after buying their first bitcoin then they don't want to touch it again until it arrives at a predetermined time such as leaving it in a bear market period to avoid panic bitcoin price movements that fall during that period and will surely return if the bull market comes later.

[siniminomorocomunisakito]

There is no simple answer to this question, as it all depends on a number of factors. What matters most is probably whether or not someone still owns or controls Bitcoin, and how much control they have over them at that point. There are many possibilities here too. For example, there is a possibility that Bitcoins could be lost due to mishandling, theft or hackers. And finally, there is a possibility that the owner of the wallet has died.

[MusaPk]

Losing access to the wallet is usually the reason why most users lose their bitcoins. While a coin that hasn't moved for more than 2-5 years cannot be guaranteed dead as anyone looking to invest long term will definitely regularly check that they have valid access to their wallet. This will be different from hacking cases where bitcoin are stolen by hackers, and lost bitcoins can be interpreted as losing access to a user's wallet where in the end they can no longer transfer their bitcoins at any time to another wallet.

There is probability that coins that are not moved for more then 5 years are lost forever, though its no way a standard for declaring a bitcoin as lost forever. Bitcoin that were mined in early days are usually the one that are lost. Since people at that time are not taking it serious. But Bitcoins were handled with lots of care when bitcoin price jumped high.

[BALIK]

Is it possible to say that Bitcoin in every wallets for the past 2years without moving are considered lost due to death or lost recovery keys? It's pretty hard to believe that anyone won't come back for their Bitcoin after 2years with no activities on the wallet.

We cannot decide too soon that a bitcoin that has not been active for 2 years in a wallet is a bitcoin that is lost or whose holdings can no longer access the wallet, because sometimes many investors make long-term investments and after buying their first bitcoin then they don't want to touch it again until it arrives at a predetermined time such as leaving it in a bear market period to avoid panic bitcoin price movements that fall during that period and will surely return if the bull market comes later.

Yes, 2 years is too short a time, while the bull market we usually see will take at least 4 years to repeat. So we were too hasty to conclude that those bitcoins were lost just because of 2 years of inactivity.

In my opinion, there is no fixed period to determine that some bitcoin is lost just because it hasn't moved for years and there is no method to determine how many bitcoins have been lost. Unless we know the owner has lost their private key or, for some reason, they have lost access to their bitcoins.

[CryptSafe]

If we want crypto currency to be a currency we have to keep spending right? But at the same time it's something worth keeping too since I do the same with my fiat in bank for more than 2years without touching it. Is it possible to say that Bitcoin in every wallets for the past 2years without moving are considered lost due to death or lost recovery keys? It's pretty hard to believe that anyone won't come back for their Bitcoin after 2years with no activities on the wallet.

It is possible one can hold bitcoin on their wallet for years without touching it. Have you not heard of dead wallets ressurrecting after years of inactivity? Of lately, a wallet holding about 420 bitcoin was activated after a long time holding. What you have asked is possible and feasible. I would want to correct an impression from you, not all dormant wallet holding bitcoin for years are assumed inactive. Some of the wallets owners are still very much alive but they have that as investment for a long time and are still very much aware of the market trends. I think some of them are well to do in the sense that they have other investment business they are running or if possible, they are well paid in their jobs so therefore see no need always putting eyes on their bitcoin investment as they have enough for living.
All I am trying to point out is that it does not necessarily means that inactive wallets are dormant as a result of dimise of their owners but rather they wallet can be seen as a long time bitcoin investment.

[MFahad]

If we want crypto currency to be a currency we have to keep spending right?

Yes it is like that if you don't spend it then how will you meet your needs in life. i will prefer crypto currency as a asset more than currency.

But at the same time it's something worth keeping too since I do the same with my fiat in bank for more than 2years without touching it.

Your country's currency may increase in two years but i am living in devolping country whuch currency is depreciating day by day So keeping money in the bank for two years has no real benefit and there is risk of banning account, country default,war situation which cause deprive you this holding fiat in bank

Is it possible to say that Bitcoin in every wallets for the past 2years without moving are considered lost due to death or lost recovery keys? It's pretty hard to believe that anyone won't come back for their Bitcoin after 2years with no activities on the wallet.

More than 15% Btc wallet has still not moved btc and not considered lost yet because there is chances that these wallet holder still waiting for btc to acquire New ATH and sell above 1 00k. today i was reading one article that one wallet woke up after 10 year and send their btc on 8 Feb Article . This article clearly indicate that still many people are holding BTC for more than 5 years and not considered lost Btc.

[crunck]

If we want crypto currency to be a currency we have to keep spending right? But at the same time it's something worth keeping too since I do the same with my fiat in bank for more than 2years without touching it. Is it possible to say that Bitcoin in every wallets for the past 2years without moving are considered lost due to death or lost recovery keys? It's pretty hard to believe that anyone won't come back for their Bitcoin after 2years with no activities on the wallet.

Two years is too short a time, and there is no exact answer to this type of question. Since long-term bitcoin holdings have become commonplace these days, it's not uncommon for a wallet to go dormant for years. Very few people want to spend their bitcoin because everyone knows that the value of bitcoin will be very high in the future.
By the way, I don't like bitcoin being a currency because when it's a currency, it's stable and not volatile, I like bitcoin's volatility.

[naira]

Is it possible to say that Bitcoin in every wallets for the past 2years without moving are considered lost due to death or lost recovery keys? I

Just because 2 years of inactivity on your wallet made your Bitcoins disappear?

The question is who locked it? or who froze it? this is not a bank totally controlled by a third party, if you hold the keys and keep them safe for 10 years, the Bitcoins in the wallet are still yours. There is no expiration on the Bitcoin wallet.

[raja9167]

If we want crypto currency to be a currency we have to keep spending right? But at the same time it's something worth keeping too since I do the same with my fiat in bank for more than 2years without touching it. Is it possible to say that Bitcoin in every wallets for the past 2years without moving are considered lost due to death or lost recovery keys? It's pretty hard to believe that anyone won't come back for their Bitcoin after 2years with no activities on the wallet.

To understand the concept of lost bitcoins, we need to first discuss the nature of cryptocurrency. Bitcoin, like any other currency, is worth something because people believe it has value. However, unlike traditional currencies, it is not backed by a government or any physical asset. Instead, its value comes from its scarcity and the trust people have in its decentralized network.
As a decentralized currency, Bitcoin relies on its users to maintain its network and security. Transactions are recorded on a public ledger called the blockchain, which is maintained by a network of nodes around the world. This means that anyone with access to the internet can send and receive bitcoins, without the need for a central authority.
However, this decentralized nature also means that there is no way to recover lost bitcoins. If a user loses their private key or dies without passing on their recovery information, their bitcoins are essentially lost forever. While it may seem hard to believe that someone would leave their bitcoins untouched for two years, it is not uncommon for people to forget about or lose access to their wallets.
In fact, it is estimated that as much as 20% of all bitcoins in circulation may be lost or unspendable due to forgotten passwords, lost keys, or other similar issues. These bitcoins are effectively removed from circulation, reducing the overall supply and increasing the scarcity of the remaining coins.
So, to answer the original question, it is possible to say that bitcoins that have not moved for two years are likely lost due to death or lost recovery keys. While it may be hard to believe that someone would leave their bitcoins untouched for so long, it is not uncommon in the world of cryptocurrency. As the use and adoption of Bitcoin continue to grow, it is important for users to take the necessary precautions to protect their private keys and ensure the safety of their assets.

[Tespata]

The work of traders and occasionally, as in the previous few months, the work of market manipulators is what we see on the price charts. Not directly, anyway, it never symbolizes the adoption. Since daily new people decide to start buying, especially when they experience inflation in their local fiat currency due to the continuous printing of it, the number of addresses holding a certain amount of bitcoin is increasing. This is especially true when they discover bitcoin, the only currency with a finite supply, which is why it is constantly rising.