What happens if all Bitcoin is lost?

[FatFork]

What would happen if all Bitcoin is mined and all Bitcoin is lost?

Bitcoin won't be fully mined for over a century, so new coins will keep getting created for a long time still.  But once every last bitcoin is finally mined, say, 2140 that'll be it and  no more new ones after that.  The ones out there already can still be used and moved around though.  So could bitcoin prices kind of go either way after no more new coins come? I'd say yeah.  Up or down, depending how many folks want to buy versus sell the finite number still around. 

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[panganib999]

What would happen if all Bitcoin is mined and all Bitcoin is lost?

Bitcoin wouldn't be lost when every piece of it is gone you silly. Every coin up till now that is being used after all is primarily those that are mined in the past and is just passed down from one person to another, so the most sensible inference you can make out from this is that when all coins in the future are mined, either we get the full 21 million supply circulation or we get even more issues with how transaction fees and transactions are being taken care of in this network.

Suppose that you have 10 kids, and you gave them shirts to wear, but they have to dig it inside their drawers first, once a day. Eventually all of their shirts will be drawn out of the drawers and they would've worn every shirt in there, but they can switch shirts, pass their shirts to another sibling, or perhaps even hoard all the shirts to become the most shirt-wealthy kid in the family. Economy will still commence and carry on even when all coins in the market are mined, that I can assure you my friend, so don't worry about it.

[Asuspawer09]

What would happen if all Bitcoin is mined and all Bitcoin is lost?

I mean if all of it was lost it would not have any value anymore I guess since even though we know Bitcoin is a valuable asset if all of it was lost the market is going to stop already since we can't trade it anymore no one is gonna be able to buy Bitcoin anymore if all of it was lost so probably is it just going to be a cryptocurrency that worth nothing.

But today the lost Bitcoin cannot be recovered anymore so that just means that the supply of Bitcoin has decreased and can be a good thing in my opinion since low supply could easily increase the market price of Bitcoin.

To be honest if all of the Bitcoin is mined we dont really know how it is going to affect the market or the Bitcoin it self, but in theory that is when the market price of Bitcoin could potentially skyrocket since there was more Bitcoin that is going to be created anymore meaning that the Bitcoin is potentially gonna be super rare if a lot of people is gonna start to buy one. But at the same time we it is just theory since personally i dont know how the transactions, mining, network is gonna work if all of it is gonna be mine, but probably that is where it might start as a digital currency since it is the goal of Bitcoin.

[Learn Bitcoin]

Because the only way such a thing will be possible is if everyone on earth who has Bitcoin in their possession dies and there is no way to recover their Bitcoin. That's only when such a thing can be possible, but the truth is that everyone will not die at once without passing their Bitcoin to their loved ones.

That's possible. There will be an end to everything. Everyone will die once the earth and galaxy will start falling and that's the time everyone will die at the same time. Other than this, I do not see any possibility that only Bitcoiners will die. We don't know who has Bitcoin and who has to die because they have Bitcoin. This is just a stupid assumption. It's like a kid thinking, what if everyone dies in the world and I will grab all the toys from the shopping malls and eat all the chocolates? I will visit this city to that city and I will live like a king. Which is never going to happen. I would ask OP to stop being a kid and wake up, start working for your aim.

[LogitechMouse]

What would happen if all Bitcoin is mined and all Bitcoin is lost?

Then it will be the end of humanity, and at the same time, the end of Bitcoin or maybe the whole cryptocurrency.
Please don't take what I said seriously because nothing is true... aside from the fact that it will be the end of Bitcoin.

Come to think of it. What are the chances for this one to happen? What must happen for Bitcoin to be lost? With adoption increasing year by year, I don't think that this type of scenario can happen. I mean people aren't that dumb to lose "ALL" of their Bitcoins right? Yes, there are some Bitcoins that are unrecoverable already, but to lose all? Can't think of any scenario where all Bitcoins will be lost. Maybe if the internet will be lost forever then yes.

Don't think of it too much OP, and sometimes, a quick Google search, and a bit of common sense are all you need to answer your questions.

[the rise]

simply put, they will really lose all their assets. many people cried because of it but it was too late. In fact, I believe it is possible that some of them may even choose to commit suicide because of the large amount of assets they have saved. wise and alive people will be willing to throw away everything related to bitcoin and try to start building assets again from scratch. Even though this looks cruel, I'm sure it's a fact, several coins that are exit scams always experience the same thing, especially Bitcoin, which is the majority of crypto investors here, I can't even imagine what would happen to me if that happened.

[alankasman]

What would happen if all Bitcoin is mined and all Bitcoin is lost?

If the total supply of Bitcoin is mined, Bitcoin will be scarce and the price will be high.
Bitcoin will not disappear as long as people's activity in the crypto market is still active. As long as it is active, Bitcoin rotation will continue to occur at any time in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years.
Your Bitcoin and my Bitcoin might be lost if you and I don't save the seed phrase properly.

[Aanuoluwatofunmi]

What would happen if all Bitcoin is mined and all Bitcoin is lost?

All bitcoin can be mined but all bitcoin cannot be lost, the digital currency is not centralized, the only thing that can make all bitcoin lost is when the bitcoin network is under attac and the protocols were changed, this is something merely impossible to achieve, which make it more reliable and trusted and immutable, individuals holding bitcoin can lost theirs when they make mistakes or got hacked but everyone's bitcoin cannot get lost at the same time without the blockchain technology under attack, while being under attack is what is almost impossible to see happen.

[Maus0728]

Depends on when will it be gone, if it's gone right now then there's going to be waves of panic surging all over the world because a lot of companies that have invested billions of dollars in bitcoin will be facing bankruptcy and then they'll lose everything because they got to pay the investors and the world will never be the same because a lot of people that have invested in bitcoin will be going back to square one in their financial status unless they've been able to branch out to other avenues of investment and not just bitcoin or cryptocurrency then that return to square one is their only way, altcoins will be affected the most because the market will think that X cryptocurrency will be next and so the market will experience panic like never before.

And this will probably be talked about for over a year and then people will eventually forget about it and then we will move on, this forum will lose a lot of members but there's some that will stick and still talk about the nostalgia of the golden years of bitcoin.

[bangjoe]

It's lost forever and there's no way to recover it. That's it. The Bitcoin has a limited supply and it's not like paper money that they can create unlimitedly. I think there's a lot of lost Bitcoin, as per my simple search on google, it stated that there's at least 13 Million Bitcoin that is lost right now it's worth 565 Billion USD, I'm really surprised when I found out about it. I was hoping that at least I could have 100 Bitcoins from those lost Bitcoins.

Yes if all bitcoins are lost it will be lost forever and no one will be able to recover, even if it can be recovered, in my opinion I don't know how sophisticated the tools that must be used, but so far recovering lost bitcoins is impossible.

But I find it very difficult to believe that there are 13 million bitcoins missing from circulation, maybe some of them are the main holders of bitcoins that have never opened their wallets to this day, maybe for the range of 5-8 million bitcoins that are lost / lost their owners in my opinion is a natural thing, but 13 million is a lot of numbers and if you count the supply in circulation around 6 million coins?

[philipma1957]

What would happen if all Bitcoin is mined and all Bitcoin is lost?

Okay look at this

50 ______________2009 to 2012
25                           2012-2016
12.5                         2016-2020
 6.25                        2020-2024        right now in 2023 fees are running 1-4 coins a block
 3.125                       2024-2028
 1.5625                      2028-2032
 0.78125                     2032-2036
 0.390625                    2036-2040
 0.1953125                   2040-2044
 0.09765625                  2044-2048
 

The right question is will we get fees straightened out in the next 4 ½ ings.

not what happens in 2140

[lixer]

What would happen if all Bitcoin is mined and all Bitcoin is lost?

That can only be theoretical thought but it's not going to happen practically because the value of Bitcoin determines the amount of safety the holders would have for their holdings. When Bitcoin had little to no value in the initial days, people barely cared about their coins or took care of their wallets or private keys and stuff, that is the reason why a lot of people lost a lot of coins back in the day that cannot be recovered anymore, but that isn't going to happen anymore.

Do you think that a person holding even 1 Bitcoin will be careless with their wallet or other important stuff related to it like private keys or seed phrases? No, because it's a lot of money and one cannot afford to lose that much money. So, it's practically not going to happen considering the situation we are in.

[DYING_S0UL]

Loool...how come every Bitcoin be lost? Create a wallet, make all the deposits of the world and throw the private keys into the ocean? Bitcoin will never be lost. Yes a part of is lost, because some lost the private keys in the early days or some to hardware failure. But that's all in the past now. So technically that's not possible. You can't expect that every person who owns bitcoin will have memory loss and forget the seed phrase! Nope.

[SamReomo]

What would happen if all Bitcoin is mined and all Bitcoin is lost?

Nothing would happen because in 2140 almost everyone of us won't be alive when all Bitcoin get mined. And, it's funny to even believe that all Bitcoin can get lost because that's not going to happen and that's why I don't believe that it makes sense to answer a question like this as there is no way to logically answer a question like this. Even if half of Bitcoin are lost in 100+ years then still there will be half supply of Bitcoin with us and those half would be more than enough for the people who may have Bitcoin in those years.

[The Cryptovator]

I am just curious: how do you see unrealistic dreams? Bitcoin isn't like a centralised organisation that would lose everything at once. It's unlikely to scam a financial services or insurance company. They would disappear overnight, and that happens always in Ponzi schemes, either online or in real life. Everyone won't lose their seed phrase overnight, and the Bitcoin blockchain won't disappear either. However, even if your dream comes true, there will be no footprint of Bitcoin, which is unlikely to happen ever. So you don't need to worry about it.

[Ravichnadra]

If all Bitcoin were lost, it would lead to increased scarcity, potentially driving up the value of the remaining coins. It could pose challenges for adoption and erode confidence in the cryptocurrency. However, the decentralized nature of Bitcoin makes the scenario of all Bitcoin being permanently lost highly unlikely.

[MarjorieZimmermanGinger]

What would happen if all Bitcoin is mined and all Bitcoin is lost?

Do you understand the process? Lost and Finished in the mine have different meanings. I want to ask what you mean by this question, because if bitcoin has been mined then the circulation of bitcoin will revolve around the buying and selling process on the exchange. In the end, people will hold a certain amount according to their financial capabilities. However, if you mean how much bitcoin will cost after it is mined, then no one knows for sure how much it will cost.

We are still quite optimistic about the journey of bitcoin whether it runs out or not in the mine because the strength of bitcoin is much more tested and even when economic conditions become more difficult bitcoin is the only investment that can maintain value.

[nutildah]

It would actually be a "great" idea for a computer virus that makes people send Bitcoin from their wallets to burn addresses... like every time you open your wallet to send Bitcoin, your entire balance gets sent to an address like 1BitcoinEaterAddressDontSendf59kuE. 

It still wouldn't lose all the Bitcoin, but it would certainly take a lot out of circulation.

[SquirrelJulietGarden]

It would actually be a "great" idea for a computer virus that makes people send Bitcoin from their wallets to burn addresses... like every time you open your wallet to send Bitcoin, your entire balance gets sent to an address like 1BitcoinEaterAddressDontSendf59kuE. 

It still wouldn't lose all the Bitcoin, but it would certainly take a lot out of circulation.

If hackers spend time to code, they will do it for stealing bitcoin from victims' wallets to their wallets, not to burn address.

This address still receives small inputs and they are like dust attacks.
https://bitinfocharts.com/bitcoin/address/1BitcoinEaterAddressDontSendf59kuE

The balance is 13.34900207 BTC that equals to $573,914.

We don't know who sent bitcoins to the address but senders are donators to all of us.

Lost coins only make everyone else's coins worth slightly more.  Think of it as a donation to everyone.

[Rampagoe004]

To be honest if all of the Bitcoin is mined we dont really know how it is going to affect the market or the Bitcoin it self, but in theory that is when the market price of Bitcoin could potentially skyrocket since there was more Bitcoin that is going to be created anymore meaning that the Bitcoin is potentially gonna be super rare if a lot of people is gonna start to buy one. But at the same time we it is just theory since personally i dont know how the transactions, mining, network is gonna work if all of it is gonna be mine, but probably that is where it might start as a digital currency since it is the goal of Bitcoin.

Maybe more accurately we can say that all of us here will never be able to see the end of Bitcoin being mined because we need to live for more than 120 years and that of course will be very impossible. But maybe it's true as the theory you said is that when bitcoin becomes increasingly scarce, the price will increase, especially if there are a lot of bitcoins that disappear on the market because they lose access to wallets. Currently, as far as I remember, there are more than 2 million bitcoins that are counted as lost bitcoins because they have never moved again. I've read that article but I've forgotten where I read it.