What happens to those Bitcoins that the owners have passed away?

[mrust_mobile]

They pass away along with their owners unless the owner share his private keys with another person before he
passes away. Then those coins will find a new home and keep living happily.

The coins don’t actually “die” but let’s say they become inaccessible.

It is a different story if the coins were being held on an exchange. Then those coins will be treated as heritage and heritage laws will apply. Ownership will move to the next person and then they will get taxed like how it is done with any other asset.

If nobody knows the existence of the coins, they “die”

[Z-tight]

Can't the nodes recover them or are they automatically erased from the blockchain since they might not be probably in use?

Recover them? You mean like steal people's coins, hell no. Such a thing is not possible in the BTC network and that is part of the reason some of us believe in BTC and use it. How do you even know whose coins are lost and who is just holding their coins for many years without spending any of it.

And what do you mean by coins being erased from the blockchain? That does not make any sense man.

[john_egbert]

Bitcoin being a decentralized digital asset, there is this intriguing question that made me felt uncomfortable ever since the thought came on my mind.

Why is that so uncomfortable for you? it wasn't your bitcoin in the first place, so there's no reason for you to care about it. and those bitcoins are actually lost bitcoins, so they no longer belong to anyone, they're locked away forever in those wallets, it's not really a loss in the traditional sense because the Bitcoin is still there and still has value, so just let it be part of the scarcity of Bitcoin itself, because lost coins actually strengthen the value of Bitcoin.

Agreed.

If anything, these lost BTCs make the BTCs that we have only more valuable, that's all that should matter to us.

[passwordnow]

Lost Bitcoin as satsoshi Said is a bonuse to every other Bitcoin holder's since those Bitcoin are considered dead and inactive although available on the blockchain but no longer in active cyculating volumes, means more scarcity for the market increase demands and generally increasing the value of those available cyculating Bitcoins.

It's a donation to the entire community which makes the remaining holders have more limited Bitcoins in the circulation. Those bitcoins will never be recovered and makes the Bitcoin's we have to be more rare and wanting. That makes the price higher and so, we as still alive, we have to teach our immediate family to know how to recover or import the Bitcoins that we have left if ever we pass away.

[henry_of_skalitz]

It's a donation to the entire community which makes the remaining holders have more limited Bitcoins in the circulation. Those bitcoins will never be recovered and makes the Bitcoin's we have to be more rare and wanting. That makes the price higher and so, we as still alive, we have to teach our immediate family to know how to recover or import the Bitcoins that we have left if ever we pass away.

These lost coins are like free deflation for the rest of us.

And I agree with the fact that it's our job to have our close ones to know how to make our coins not lost, but to be used by those we trust ourselves.

[passwordnow]

It's a donation to the entire community which makes the remaining holders have more limited Bitcoins in the circulation. Those bitcoins will never be recovered and makes the Bitcoin's we have to be more rare and wanting. That makes the price higher and so, we as still alive, we have to teach our immediate family to know how to recover or import the Bitcoins that we have left if ever we pass away.

These lost coins are like free deflation for the rest of us.

It's an addition deflation due to those coins and as well as the halving that happens every cycle of 4 years.

And I agree with the fact that it's our job to have our close ones to know how to make our coins not lost, but to be used by those we trust ourselves.

Yes, we have to choose who is trustworthy and you're okay to talk about your bitcoins. Because not all of our relatives are trustworthy and not selfish. If it's about money, people will change their route and they'll show the true face that they have and so, you've got to be picky with that and not to mess who is your choice. But most likely, if you're married, of course it's your partner and children and next parents, siblings, etc.

[Felicity_Tide]

~snip

Can't the nodes recover them or are they automatically erased from the blockchain since they might not be probably in use?

AFAIK, Node does not serve as a recovery option for lost coins. Only the records(tx) of the existence of such coins are kept intact_{(at least by those with the valid and complete record)}. And the records of these coins are not erasable. Even if the true owner doesn't have access to them due to several reasons, those coins are considered lost, but their records are very much intact, which is an actual prove that they actually exist. And mind you, the Blockchain only shows if a coin has been moved or not, and not if someone can actually move a coin.

I believe this question and every of the answers that will be provided by members here will help a lot of newbies including myself to know the importance of private keys/recovery phrase.

Those items are not to be toyed with. Once lost, there is no recovery option in getting them back.

[Z-tight]

is it just me or is it sort of poetic that btc thrives on human error and mortality? the more people lose their keys or pass away the more scarce the remaining sats become, it is a cold and ruthless system but it is the only one that actually rewards long term holders by default

I don't know why you see it that way, but i sure as hell do not see it like that. BTC is scarce simply because it has a capped supply of 21 million coins, every 210,000 blocks, the block reward is halved.

The fact that people lose their seed words either through error or death does not make as much impact as you think it does. Yeah, it makes everyone's coins worth a little more, satoshi said that, yeah yeah, but BTC's scarcity is about its fixed supply. And BTC thrives on many things: decentralization, censorship resistance, demand, adoption, etc, and death and mortality is not part of it.

[Churchillvv]

They become donations to the bitcoin world as it increases the demand of bitcoin and reduces the number of bitcoin in circulation hence bitcoin scarcity has increased a little in percentage.

But then why would anyone let any amount of bitcoin burn or become unusable? That’s why it’s being advocated that we should at least make our investment heritable to our love ones, and put at least one person in the position to be able to take it out from wherever without stress.
but whoever that is not reachable anymore is gone and will probably never be accessed even brute force can’t open some of them. Key your bitcoin safe and prepare for unforeseen circumstances.

[Nothingtodo]

Those who died holding Bitcoin without properly preserving the Phases or security of their wallets will have their wallets lost forever. No one can ever recover a Bitcoin wallet without preserving its security system, so Bitcoin should not be stored carelessly without carefully preserving the wallet's security password. Humans are mortal, so any investor can die at any time, so the security phases of the Bitcoin wallet must be well preserved and stored with someone trustworthy so that even if the holder dies, the Bitcoin can be recovered later.

[Stable090]

Those wallets owned by individuals whose private keys and recovery seed phrase have been forgotten and those individuals that have passed away, knowing that the Bitcoin blockchain security makes recovery of wallets impossible when private keys/recovery phrase are forgotten, does it now mean that those Bitcoin owned by such individuals are no longer in circulation/use, hence reducing the Bitcoin trading volume?

If you pass away without anybody having access to your seed phrase, then the bitcoin in that wallet is just going to remain in the wallet, nobody will be able to access it, that’s why when investing in bitcoin, you are suppose to properly protect your seed phrase, because if you loss access to it, then your bitcoin is gone, also make sure your seed phrase is written in a place where if anything happens to you, your family members will be able to access it. It won’t make sense that your family members will be struggling, and you will be having bitcoin in your wallet that nobody will be able to access.

[CryptSafe]

It is as simple as this: "not your keys, not your coin." What does this mean? If you have no access to the keys holding an asset in a wallet, automatically, that asset is gone and gone forever. Except that the owner of such wallets hands over the key to the wallet to his next of kin, then we can say that the asset is still in existence; otherwise, the wallet is gone forever.

While it is seen as a lost asset, it is a plus to the existing asset because it helps to reduce the coin in circulation by creating scarcity, which, in other words, makes it high in demand and also increases in value.

[Judith87403]

True, such Bitcoins are lost forever effectively.  They stay  recorded onl the blockchain though are forever unspendable without having the private keys. Nodes don't have what it  takes to recover or even erase them. Coins that is lost reduces the circulatory supply, but won't trade volume directly. Here is the reason why private keys and recovery phrases remain critical. Responsibility is what Bitcoin rewards same way it rewards decentralization.

[She shining]

Can't the nodes recover them

Even miners can't and how would you feel about Bitcoin if it was possible to easily recover lost Bitcoins. Lost coins are donations because they can't be recovered without a private key.

[coolcoinz]

Bitcoin owned by such individuals are no longer in circulation/use, hence reducing the Bitcoin trading volume?

It's not necessarily. I'd rather say that it reduces the potential trading volume.

Most bitcoin in circulation isn't being traded at all. It either lies dormant, or is being exchanged OTC, therefore not adding to exchange stats that make the volume.
I've owned bitcoin for over 10 years and 90% of it hasn't been traded.

That said, lost BTC decreases the total supply, therefore makes other coins less scarce. On one hand it will eventually lead to a large reduction of supply, but we're talking about the next 50+ years when most of us will no longer be alive to see it.

[sleepfirefly]

the coin doesn’t move unless someone moves it and that someone is if the owner’s family even knows such bitcoin exists.

[Antona]

Bitcoin being a decentralized digital asset, there is this intriguing question that made me felt uncomfortable ever since the thought came on my mind.

Those wallets owned by individuals whose private keys and recovery seed phrase have been forgotten and those individuals that have passed away, knowing that the Bitcoin blockchain security makes recovery of wallets impossible when private keys/recovery phrase are forgotten, does it now mean that those Bitcoin owned by such individuals are no longer in circulation/use, hence reducing the Bitcoin trading volume?

Can't the nodes recover them or are they automatically erased from the blockchain since they might not be probably in use?

I believe this question and every of the answers that will be provided by members here will help a lot of newbies including myself to know the importance of private keys/recovery phrase.

Nothing happens to them they remain exactly where they are, but since no one can sign a transaction to move them, they are effectively out of play. This reduces the active supply potentially increasing scarcity its a permanent reminder securing and sharing your seed phrase (safely) is as important as buying the Bitcoin itself