What about the lost BTC?

[kingvirtus09]

I was reading about some cases of people who had many BTC at a time when it has low or no value at all, and didn't care about it, so they eventually lost their security phrases, or hard wallets and now it is lost probably forever.

I've read that the amount that is considered lost can be up to 5 million BTC. That is about 1/4 of the total amount available.

Knowing that BTC has a limit, and we're getting there soon, isn't it possible to have some compensation for those lost BTC?

Something like adding more BTC in an equivalent amount for those lost BTC, or something similar.

Would it be positive for the currency or could bring some caos?

If you say that the bitcoin is lost because the seed phrase that your bitcoin was placed in has been lost, I think that your bitcoin is not totally lost, unless someone else knows your seed phrase. Because the only thing that will happen is that the Bitcoin amount that you have in your seed phrase account is hidden. Or, in other words, he is only in contact with the Bitcoin account address of the holder.

Now, when you say that your bitcoin is gone, either your bitcoin address was hacked or you clicked a phishing link, obviously this scenario is a hacking issue or, for some other reason, we sent it to another bitcoin address.

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[Hyphen(-)]

I was reading about some cases of people who had many BTC at a time when it has low or no value at all, and didn't care about it, so they eventually lost their security phrases, or hard wallets and now it is lost probably forever.

I've read that the amount that is considered lost can be up to 5 million BTC. That is about 1/4 of the total amount available.

Knowing that BTC has a limit, and we're getting there soon, isn't it possible to have some compensation for those lost BTC?

Something like adding more BTC in an equivalent amount for those lost BTC, or something similar.

Would it be positive for the currency or could bring some caos?

All these you are mentioning can only be possible in centralized system which some people are under control of the whole process.

BTC is decentralized and nothing of such can be done. People that lost their security seed phrases did not probably know about the importance of it in the nearly future that’s why the misplaced them.
Now that the whole world knows the value of Bitcoin compaction cannot be done because these people don’t even have any evidence of been a one time Bitcoin holders; nevertheless, those who lost their Bitcoin due to mistakes should have bought more a while back when the price down.

[Yatsan]

Would it be positive for the currency or could bring some caos?

Actually, I believed at it at first as with no effects in its market value however if the amount among many people who lost control of their holdings would be hige, then t least it will have an impact to this industry. Bitcoin should circulate in this market in order to contribute with both demand and supply. Imagine if all investors won't be able to move their holdings to other investors. Will there be price changes? Demand woud be high indeed but as long as no transaction is being made between buyers and sellers, then nothing would make sense. Being in such situation is a bad thing. We witnessed how huge the potential of Bitcoin is, from previous ATH. Given that market is showing positive outlook especially with the next Bitcoin halving, I will fully understand those investors who forgot their keys to access their early investment accounts.

[wtsimis]

Re-adding lost bitcoins to all supply is a controversial proposition in the cryptocurrency community.  The total supply of Bitcoin is limited to 21 million.  Which is a fundamental feature of Bitcoin and underpins its value proposition.  However trust in a finite supply of bitcoins may be undermined if bitcoins are resupplied out of sympathy for users who have lost access to their bitcoins.  Currently there is considered to be a balance between Bitcoin's widespread adoption and value contribution and Bitcoin's loss.

[Cookdata]

I was reading about some cases of people who had many BTC at a time when it has low or no value at all, and didn't care about it, so they eventually lost their security phrases, or hard wallets and now it is lost probably forever.

You are missing up some words, it's called "seed phrase" and not security phrase, and it's called hardware wallet and not hard wallet. I hope you understand.
Once theee are loss, the bitcoin in that wallet is as good as gone, it will be there but you can't have access to it again because you can't spend them.

I've read that the amount that is considered lost can be up to 5 million BTC. That is about 1/4 of the total amount available.

Knowing that BTC has a limit, and we're getting there soon, isn't it possible to have some compensation for those lost BTC?

When you said compensate? Where do you get the bitcoins to compensate them from? Charity? Exchange or you want to give them your bitcoin?

First, you need to know that nobody can know if private keys or seed phrase to a wallet address has been loss because the bitcoin will remain unspent in that wallet address forever until someone who have the private keys, so you and I can't tell and the Bitcoin community cannot tell if a wallet is unaccessible.
You should have seen some wallet of 10 years ago been move, how do you even tell if some of those wallets are inaccessible by the owners.

Something like adding more BTC in an equivalent amount for those lost BTC, or something similar.

Would it be positive for the currency or could bring some caos?

Even Shitcoins with foundations that knows about their investors losses and wallets hacks don't compensate their investors, it's bitcoin that depend on miners reward before the circulating supply can be increase that you want them to compensate? Bitcoin is not some banks that can help you recover money or compensate you when you make mistakes, always remember that not your keys not your coins.

[Rruchi man]

Would it be positive for the currency or could bring some chaos?

If lost bitcoins are replaced, it will have a negative effect on the value of bitcoins which we expect to be increasing. When the number of bitcoins in circulation continues to reduce, the value of bitcoins available will be increasing. If these bitcoins were replaceable the value of bitcoins will never be expected to increase via that situation.

Just as everyone has said, if your BTC is lost, it is lost!

[Davidvictorson]

I was reading about some cases of people who had many BTC at a time when it has low or no value at all, and didn't care about it, so they eventually lost their security phrases, or hard wallets and now it is lost probably forever.

For your information, there are services out there that help those who lost or can't remember their seed phrases get access to their bitcoin. It cost a lot of money and it is like a 50-50 percent chance that it would be recovered or not.

Knowing that BTC has a limit, and we're getting there soon, isn't it possible to have some compensation for those lost BTC?

In my estimation, the compensation form lost bitcoin is for more guides to teach people how to safely secure their Bitcoins so that there will not be more Bitcoin lost. It is to prevent more Bitcoin losses in the future.

[yudi09]

Knowing that BTC has a limit, and we're getting there soon, isn't it possible to have some compensation for those lost BTC?

I don't think this is about deposits in private banks or government-owned banks getting compensation if the assets held there are lost.
Loss of assets is absolutely the responsibility of the owner. If Bitcoin is an asset that has been lost, then no compensation will be obtained. The question is, where will we collect the lost BTC?

Even assets held in private banks or government-owned banks will not immediately provide compensation if the loss occurs and is not caused by them on the part of the bank.
The one who has complete control over Bitcoin ownership is the owner. If you lose the key, you will lose Bitcoin from your Bitcoin ownership status. The number of Bitcoins has not changed, remaining 21 million.

[Adbitco]

Any dead wallet is considered burnt address, that is to say if there are any bitcoin in those wallet and the owner lost access it means those coin is burned down, in other hands it has helped to reduced the total supply but if there were ways for the owner to recover that wallet then we consider that person to be excessively wealthy because with whatever amount they had in their wallet considering the current amount that person is made. So, whenever a private key or seed phrase are being misplaced then we can consider that to be gone forever. While holding bitcoin you should consider the security of your wallet otherwise whatever that happens to your seed phrase we can say your investment are no place to be found.

[dothebeats]

Rather than adding more currency, devs thought that it's better to just increase the divisibility of each bitcoin if the value is too high. This way, the value of each bitcoin will not be affected and there wouldn't be too much of a fuss from parties that hold a huge number of coins which could eventually lead to a sell-off. It's better to limit the total amount of bitcoins rather than add more to the supply.

[Richbased]

Compensation, like, how? Do you mean rewarding those who have lost their bitcoin or adding those back to the supply?

I mean adding it back to the supply to be available for mining again.

Taking back the lost Bitcoin to add it to the supply wouldn't be achievable because if they do that it means our coin ain't safe because definitely they can access anyone's wallet and claim their Bitcoin as well and moreover, do you know if they actually lost or forgot the seed phrases of their wallet? because some persons can actually buy Bitcoin with the intention to leave it in their non custodial wallets for a very long interval of time without accessing it and it would now look as though they've forgotten their seed phrases and any attempt to either add or subtract the quantity of Bitcoin remaining to be mined will become an error in the process.

A lost bitcoin is a lost bitcoin as no form of recovery without the seed phrases would be obtainable so it would just be stucked there forever after all the owner who lost control of it also bought it with money so if he loses it then it's actually his brunt to bear that's the more reason why Bitcoin is trustworthy because it can never be manipulated unlike fiat whereby if something of such occurs they can maneuver and manipulate it, so it is important to keep seed phrases safe and secured and make an offline backup so that in a case of losing it one can easily recover it. Moreover, what of a situation whereby the owner dies? So no one can inherit the coin because that is what stands bitcoin out as there is nothing like a mediator to ones assets.

[romero121]

There is a particular limit, and scaling beyond the limit for the purpose of adding those lost bitcoins doesn't seem to be a fair process. Because when someone recovers the recovery phrase and gets back his lost bitcoin, the idle bitcoin gets active in the network. To avoid such issues, it is good to stay within the limits. Every bitcoin has its own owner, and someone losing it is their fault, and the network shouldn't be altered for the same.

[Asuspawer09]

Bitcoin has a limited supply and we just can't change that anymore whatever we do, If we could easily compensate for the lost Bitcoin in the wallets, and then give it back on the supply in the market that could have a huge effect on the market and it just means that the Bitcoin supply increase which is not possible, Also that's what makes Bitcoin unique having a limited supply and one of the reasons why it has a volatile market price in the market if you have lost Bitcoin then sorry for your lose, it's your fault losing that seed phrase, it cannot be recovered anymore. For sure it is going to break Bitcoin if we are able to completely change what Bitcoin is including the supply of Bitcoin itself.

On the other hand, losing Bitcoin means it wouldn't be moved in the wallet anymore meaning the supply just decreased increasing the market value of Bitcoin since the supply is limited, it's not totally a bad thing it has both negative and positive effects on Bitcoin I guess.

[_BlackStar]

I was reading about some cases of people who had many BTC at a time when it has low or no value at all, and didn't care about it, so they eventually lost their security phrases, or hard wallets and now it is lost probably forever.

I've read that the amount that is considered lost can be up to 5 million BTC. That is about 1/4 of the total amount available.

Knowing that BTC has a limit, and we're getting there soon, isn't it possible to have some compensation for those lost BTC?

Something like adding more BTC in an equivalent amount for those lost BTC, or something similar.

Would it be positive for the currency or could bring some caos?

There are many users who lost access to their wallets and they can no longer move their bitcoins forever. Meanwhile, there are many wallets that have been inactive for years and we never know whether their owners still have access or not. I'm sure it's difficult to determine which coins are missing and which wallets have lost access - so I don't think your idea is a good one.

Bitcoin users do not get any compensation if they lose access to their wallets - so be careful with security methods if you are not an expert. Practice commonly recommended security methods - this can make you more likely to get help and useful advice when you need help.

Would it be positive for the currency or could bring some caos?

I choose your last point.

[Games.Bitcoin]

The loss of Bitcoin represents a poignant time for other features of the cryptocurrency, especially its immutable and decentralized nature.  Whether due to a user's forgotten password or incorrect key and hardware failure, the importance of keeping records securely and accurately is immense.  However lost can never be brought back. Moreover, it is not possible to create the amount that has been lost. Because it will bring about a huge change in the basic features of Bitcoin and will have a severe impact on the user

[wxa7115]

I was reading about some cases of people who had many BTC at a time when it has low or no value at all, and didn't care about it, so they eventually lost their security phrases, or hard wallets and now it is lost probably forever.

I've read that the amount that is considered lost can be up to 5 million BTC. That is about 1/4 of the total amount available.

Knowing that BTC has a limit, and we're getting there soon, isn't it possible to have some compensation for those lost BTC?

Something like adding more BTC in an equivalent amount for those lost BTC, or something similar.

Would it be positive for the currency or could bring some caos?

How exactly those that claim to have lost their coins could make a legitimate claim this was the case? How can they prove they were the former owner of those lost coins? When the only way to prove this is by signing a message from that address, but the act of signing itself proves those coins are not lost.

So there is not a feasible way to do this and I am sure most of us are already fine with this, besides as long as the coins lost are not yours, I do not see the reason to worry about what other people did or did not with their coins.

[lovesmayfamilis]

OP, can I ask you what you had in mind when you wrote this post?

Well, the 21 million BTC is a fundamental aspect of Bitcoin's design. Changing this limit would require a consensus from the network participants, which I believe it is unlikely given the strong commitment to Bitcoin's original protocol.

It also would alter Bitcoin's scarcity value and economic model.

Dimon's comment might be speculative or aimed at provoking thought, but it's good to remember the decentralized nature of Bitcoin that makes such changes pretty hard to make.

I believe that making such a change could mean a huge decrease on BTC value and even the loss of trust on the coin.

Didn't you respond to that thread stating that there is a limited supply of bitcoin? Moreover, how can you find out how many bitcoins are actually lost and how many are regularly lost due to the fault of the owners? Will this information be correct?
I don't see your logic.

[Blitzboy]

The idea that 5 million BTC are forever lost shows human fallibility and blockchain's immutability. Does recompense for these digital relics even matter? Assigning more BTC as restitution violates the 21 million cap. Doesnt this limit warn against carelessness? Even adding BTC to offset losses contradicts Bitcoin's scarcity and worth.


Such a step would cause tangible pandemonium. Imagine Bitcoin's market reaction - trust in its unchanging supply is crucial. Tampering with it risks currency credibility. I believe the path to compensation is dangerous and should be avoided.

[bobbybkk]

The base unit of Bitcoin is Satoshies. Each Bitcoins is equal to 100 Million Satoshies. So 21 million x 100 milllion is quite a big number.

Lets say about 5 Million Bitcoin are lost, that leaves still 16 million x 100 million Satoshies, still quite a lot.

So I see no reason to speculate how the "lost" Bitcoin can be replaced.....

[sokani]

When you lose the seedphrase to your bitcoin wallet, the bitcoin is lost and there's no compensation from anywhere. Also, there's no way to know a coin that has been lost forever and the bitcoin that's comfortably seating on a wallet, waiting to be moved in some years to come.

Something like adding more BTC in an equivalent amount for those lost BTC, or something similar.

Bitcoin has a max supply of 21 million, every Bitcoin lose is lost forever, more Bitcoin cannot be minted to compensate or make up for the lost Bitcoin.

Would it be positive for the currency or could bring some caos?

It has no negative effect on the network, rather it helps to reduce the circulating supply of Bitcoin.