Lost Bitcoin

[KingsDen]

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

The exact quote I was going to reference.
Bitcoin is built on scarcity model, the more it is lost, the more scarce it becomes and the more valuable.

Yo,

So apparently there's like 4-6 million bitcoin that are lost and gone? Just curious if there was any ideas or plans to update the protocol to replace the lost bitcoins if there was a consensus, if that is even possible.

How will you determine that a particular bitcoin in a particular address is lost. Maybe the owner is hodling.

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[Faisal2202]

OP I think you or the person who has lost the funds should be more careful, although this claim of yours needs a little proof so please show that also to confirm whether you are saying true or not, and how did you lose the funds I mean did someone stole the keys, or you forget the keys and don't have any access to your funds now?

And is it was 4 to 5 million dollars worth of BTC! as your statement indicates as they are 4 to 5 million BTC which got lost not the 4 to 5 million dollars worth of BTC. I just searched on Google and it says that now a total of 3.7 million BTC have been lost out of 19.6 million circulating supply (Article is 2+ months old--> Source

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

That's why I love Satoshi hehe, He has swag.

[_BlackStar]

So apparently there's like 4-6 million bitcoin that are lost and gone? Just curious if there was any ideas or plans to update the protocol to replace the lost bitcoins if there was a consensus, if that is even possible.

Very unsure about the numbers - but sure, there are a lot of users who have to be willing to lose their bitcoin and in most cases it is the user's own fault.

The quote from Satoshi can be interpreted as meaning that every Bitcoin user is obliged to keep his private key well and safely. Losing your private key means you will lose your bitcoin - there is no guarantee of replacement, meaning you are fully responsible for the security of your wallet and bitcoin. If you can no longer access your wallet because you lost your private key - then you should forget about it forever and go back to the point satoshi said.

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

[GeorgeJohn]

Yo,

So apparently there's like 4-6 million bitcoin that are lost and gone? Just curious if there was any ideas or plans to update the protocol to replace the lost bitcoins if there was a consensus, if that is even possible.

What you should ask yourself us that in what protocol or conditions people who misplaced their bitcoin misplaced it, if you loss your bitcoin it depends on the kind of something you may engage yourself that warrant you to loss your bitcoin,  their is some certain things that we have to know towards bitcoin and it's misplacement, if you don't invest your bitcoin into a ponzi scheme I don't think you can loss your coin, secondly if you don't make your seed phrase to be known to public you can't loss your bitcoin, if you make use of a custodial wallet to save your bitcoin you would not loss your coins. So it depends the aspect you use for bitcoin investment.

[hhatton93]

So apparently there's like 4-6 million bitcoin that are lost and gone? Just curious if there was any ideas or plans to update the protocol to replace the lost bitcoins if there was a consensus, if that is even possible.

So that thieves (who are not the actual owners of the coins) should be claiming lost coins?

They should prove with their private keys that they are the owners.

You can not know the exact number of bitcoin that are lost because you can not say all coins that are not moved to another address are lost. Or which methodology did you use to arrive at 4 to 6 million BTC to have been lost?

I was watching a video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_X3OwmKvkQ

In any case thanks for all the responses guys.

Yo,

So apparently there's like 4-6 million bitcoin that are lost and gone? Just curious if there was any ideas or plans to update the protocol to replace the lost bitcoins if there was a consensus, if that is even possible.

All the lost Bitcoin only mean a lower maximum supply. That causes the vaue of Bitcoin to go up. Less supply and more demand is just what we need. In fact, this will continue happening and Bitcoin value will continue rising. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. Think of it this way: If a Bitcoiner loses his coins because they died or lost access to their wallet, all hodlers receive a kind of inheritence, automatically.

Is that not a great thing?

We should not change anything about this.

I guess? but considering all the big dick companies and gov'ts are accumulating and hoarding most of the btc, maybe having more btc available could allow more average folks to jump into the market? Plus after all, bitcoin was meant to be 21 million, not 21 million, but X amount is missing! sadge.

OP I think you or the person who has lost the funds should be more careful, although this claim of yours needs a little proof so please show that also to confirm whether you are saying true or not, and how did you lose the funds I mean did someone stole the keys, or you forget the keys and don't have any access to your funds now?

And is it was 4 to 5 million dollars worth of BTC! as your statement indicates as they are 4 to 5 million BTC which got lost not the 4 to 5 million dollars worth of BTC. I just searched on Google and it says that now a total of 3.7 million BTC have been lost out of 19.6 million circulating supply (Article is 2+ months old--> Source

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

That's why I love Satoshi hehe, He has swag.

I didn't lose anything, just wondering.

[sheenshane]

I guess? but considering all the big dick companies and gov'ts are accumulating and hoarding most of the btc, maybe having more btc available could allow more average folks to jump into the market? Plus after all, bitcoin was meant to be 21 million, not 21 million, but X amount is missing! sadge.

That's the unique protocol of Bitcoin, it can be changed.
As of now, it's 19,632,318 total circulating supply in the Coin market cap, so there's no fixed total amount of Bitcoin.
If the Bitcoin protocol changed, then that consensus doesn't belong to Bitcoin anymore.

Less total circulating supply of Bitcoin becomes higher the price which an already said on early reply, think about as donation for those who've lost their Bitcoin and unrecoverable.

[hatshepsut93]

Just curious if there was any ideas or plans to update the protocol to replace the lost bitcoins if there was a consensus, if that is even possible.

No there aren't because lost coins are not a problem whatsoever. There's plenty of units of account to fill the need for them. Losing millions of coins changes nothing since one coin is actually 100 million "coins".

Plus returning a large amount of coins into circulation would just dump the price for all holders, and holders are the ones who decide the rules, so why would they agree to such change?

[Fundamentals Of]

That seems a high number. It's possible that many of these coins are just dormant. But we know that every once in a while there are old coins that suddenly wake up.

But these dormant coins are actually neither lost nor gone. They're still in the blockchain. What's lost is our access to them.

It is designed this way. Why should we change it? You lost your private keys, you lost access to your coins. That's it. And that's why you need to take utmost care of your private keys.

[Hallroom]

Bitcoin is different from all other coins because it is lost and its price is very high. It has gained more popularity among all and this Bitcoin will gain more popularity in future.
Because it is a widely known and discussed coin all over the world which is preferred by all investors.

[Oasisman]

Yo,

So apparently there's like 4-6 million bitcoin that are lost and gone? Just curious if there was any ideas or plans to update the protocol to replace the lost bitcoins if there was a consensus, if that is even possible.

All the lost Bitcoin only mean a lower maximum supply. That causes the vaue of Bitcoin to go up. Less supply and more demand is just what we need. In fact, this will continue happening and Bitcoin value will continue rising. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. Think of it this way: If a Bitcoiner loses his coins because they died or lost access to their wallet, all hodlers receive a kind of inheritence, automatically.

Is that not a great thing?

We should not change anything about this.

I guess? but considering all the big dick companies and gov'ts are accumulating and hoarding most of the btc, maybe having more btc available could allow more average folks to jump into the market? Plus after all, bitcoin was meant to be 21 million, not 21 million, but X amount is missing! sadge.

Again, you don't need to worry about those lost supplies which is not really around 4-6 million. There were a lot of assumptions about how many total bitcoin have lost in the circulation, but i think 4-6 million is too much of an estimate. We've seen several bitcoins that hasn't moved for several years and then it suddenly moved at one point, so those assumptions includes bitcoin that hasn't move for almost 7-10 years considered as lost bitcoin.
Now,  21 million supplies minus those have lost in the circulation may sound just not going to be enough for all people to own a fraction. But, as bitcoin gained value constantly, 1 bitcoin maybe owned and shared for more than 1,000 people eventually.

[Lucius]

I was watching a video on YouTube:
In any case thanks for all the responses guys.

YT can be a source of good entertainment and useful information, but also the vast majority of information regarding cryptocurrencies (especially Bitcoin) is wrong and confusing. I'm not saying that there is no good content, but by the time you find something good, they fill your head with all kinds of nonsense that is hard to get out of your head.

I guess? but considering all the big dick companies and gov'ts are accumulating and hoarding most of the btc, maybe having more btc available could allow more average folks to jump into the market? Plus after all, bitcoin was meant to be 21 million, not 21 million, but X amount is missing! sadge.

Can you clarify what exactly you mean when you talk about 21 million BTC? It is true that the max supply is 21 million, and that there are currently around 19.6 million BTC in circulation, and that the last BTC will be mined around the year 2140.

As for governments and large companies, I think that they are still late when it comes to Bitcoin, because sometime by the middle or end of 2017, Bitcoin was not really in their focus as an investment. In other words, ordinary people had more than enough time to accumulate as much as they wanted at fairly low prices - while "they" today have to pay $50k+ for 1 BTC.

[Jawhead999]

Bitcoin is no longer completely decentralized if the lost coins is replaced with the new coins because that makes the address lose it's coins, anything that related to revert, changing, replacing, banning or restricting, will be controversial because not everyone can accept that.

What if there's a person send their coins to burn address on purpose? even though it sounds stupid, but everyone has a choice by doing anything they want.

[MegameSama]

Yo,

So apparently there's like 4-6 million bitcoin that are lost and gone? Just curious if there was any ideas or plans to update the protocol to replace the lost bitcoins if there was a consensus, if that is even possible.

no, bitcoins that are lost intentionally or not will be lost forever in circulation, there is no consensus whatsoever that can return them, besides, if they are returned, who receives them? unless miraculously he finds his pk again and opens the wallet. I can't imagine what it would be like if the 4-6 million lost bitcoins returned to circulation, there is no exchange that can accommodate that much bitcoin. I don't think that's good for the sustainability of bitcoin, so it would be good if there were 4-6 million bitcoins being burned independently lol

[PX-Z]

I was watching a video on YouTube: ....

In any case thanks for all the responses guys.

Raise your standards, don't just read or watch from a single source, read at least 2-3 sources when it comes to information and specific question. You can also ask questions on community forums like here and reddit too, just be aware of scammers, just don't communicate via pm especially when there's no need to.

[Mrbluntzy]

OP, just forget about every lost Bitcoin. There is no way Satoshi would want to reverse the Bitcoin blockchain protocol to replace the lost Bitcoin. If  that is done, it will cause the price of Bitcoin to drop because what makes  price of Bitcoin to increase is its nature of scarcity. Although the circulating supply of Bitcoin is still plentiful but yet it can not satisfy the deman of everyone. Satoshi himself made a statement about lost Bitcoin and his statement suggests that he doesn't have any intention to call back any lost Bitcoin.

[oktana]

OP the only thing that can be done about those lost Bitcoin is them being found (if possible). Nothing more.

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

Reading the main topic that led to this response from Satoshi, I see the OP talking about the coins of users who were trying bitcoin out but never use it again. That’s crazy to think of. Imagine how many Bitcoin they may have lost just to test Bitcoin. Now 1 Bitcoin is worth $51,000! Who would have known?!

[Easteregg69]

OP the only thing that can be done about those lost Bitcoin is them being found (if possible). Nothing more.

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

Reading the main topic that led to this response from Satoshi, I see the OP talking about the coins of users who were trying bitcoin out but never use it again. That’s crazy to think of. Imagine how many Bitcoin they may have lost just to test Bitcoin. Now 1 Bitcoin is worth $51,000! Who would have known?!

Could have been used for trading.

BTW. "Eloncoin". I have "Elon". Matic. MATIC+ELON LP.

I get it for free now. Same goes for BTC. Contracted. So you better find a new cow that wants to be milked. Cheers.

[AnonBitCoiner]

Actually there is no mechanism through which the lost number of bitcoin can replace and such lost portion of bitcoin cannot be ever a part of bitcoin again. Some of the individuals have lost their key information due to which they have lost their bitcoin and there are also some individuals who have not share their private keys with their families and after their death nobody is able to recover those bitcoin.

If there was a mechanism to recover lost bitcoin then I think the number of bitcoin will remains constant and there will be no change in its number but you will have heard that the number of bitcoin is decreased currently as compared to the number of bitcoin in the past.

[Ojima-ojo]

Yo,

So apparently there's like 4-6 million bitcoin that are lost and gone? Just curious if there was any ideas or plans to update the protocol to replace the lost bitcoins if there was a consensus, if that is even possible.

Any Bitcoin that is lost, is lost forever and counted it as a gift the the rest of the Bitcoin holders, unlike the other way around where there is a possibility to recover with the help of a centralized protocol but in this case, any Bitcoin that is transferred to an inaccessible wallet will become a burn Bitcoin since there be no way for its usability.


Just like Satoshi mentioned in the quote above, so let's stop looking for the possibility of having them again, all of us have lost some fraction of Bitcoin and to that extent, we consider them as donations.

[The Cryptovator]

If you lose a bank note, does your government print it for you, or does it change the whole currency? It won't be possible anyway, so Bitcoin is something similar. Lost means it has gone; there is no way to recover it. Even if you hard fork, lost bitcoin will be the same as lost. Because the address holding Bitcoin will get the same amount. So there is no way to recover lost bitcoin. Don't expect someone to lose Bitcoin, but it does reduce the circulating supply, and that's the reason Satoshi said lost Bitcoin should be considered a donation for the community.