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Author Topic: When People loose their wallet, do Bitcoins get lost forever ?  (Read 3410 times)
CyMeP (OP)
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April 09, 2011, 12:31:31 AM
 #1

Rightyright, I am a total newby,
so I post 3 minor questions which are alone not worthy of an entire threat here.
Together they should be worthy of one  Cool

1. Let's assume that many people will over time loose their Bitcoin Wallets, because computers crash, people forget the few coins they had, or don't bother, or other disasters happen. Does that not mean that in the end we have less and less Bitcoins ? Ok, some of you will answer that the 8 digits after the comma will provide the flexibility to turn even a million into a multiplesomethingquatrillion, which brings me to the next question:

2. I tried to transfer today 0,00000001 Bitcoin from my Bitcoin Client on the Mac to MyBitcoin.com but it only takes minimum 0.01 BC, reverse the same when trying to transfer from MyBitcoin.com account to my BC Client > "Payment amount is too small for a Bitcoin P2P payment! Try a BC0.01 or higher!"  So where are actually the promised 6 more digits after the comma ?

3. I got this generus 0,05 BC from this starterpage, and I still can see the transfer in my BC-Program. What only puzzles me is that that deal which was 2 weeks ago is already aproved over 3000 times and continues to be approved more. Aren't so many approvals a waste of computer calculations ? I mean there could be a lid on the ammount of any deal to be approved.

That's all for now and I hope not to have created confusion by throwing all my eggs into this basket.
Thanks for your inputs.  Kiss
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Bitcoin addresses contain a checksum, so it is very unlikely that mistyping an address will cause you to lose money.
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kiba
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April 09, 2011, 12:33:56 AM
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2. I tried to transfer today 0,00000001 Bitcoin from my Bitcoin Client on the Mac to MyBitcoin.com but it only takes minimum 0.01 BC, reverse the same when trying to transfer from MyBitcoin.com account to my BC Client > "Payment amount is too small for a Bitcoin P2P payment! Try a BC0.01 or higher!"  So where are actually the promised 6 more digits after the comma ?

Bitcoin miners does not accept such transaction without a fee but the technology is there. In the future, bitcoin will be worth more and it will be necessary to use such precision.

NghtRppr
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April 09, 2011, 12:36:11 AM
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1. Let's assume that many people will over time loose their Bitcoin Wallets, because computers crash, people forget the few coins they had, or don't bother, or other disasters happen. Does that not mean that in the end we have less and less Bitcoins ? Ok, some of you will answer that the 8 digits after the comma will provide the flexibility to turn even a million into a multiplesomethingquatrillion, which brings me to the next question:

Right, as Bitcoins are lost, the rest of them will gain in value and therefore can be divided in smaller and smaller increments.

2. I tried to transfer today 0,00000001 Bitcoin from my Bitcoin Client on the Mac to MyBitcoin.com but it only takes minimum 0.01 BC, reverse the same when trying to transfer from MyBitcoin.com account to my BC Client > "Payment amount is too small for a Bitcoin P2P payment! Try a BC0.01 or higher!"  So where are actually the promised 6 more digits after the comma ?

It's limited in the client but not the protocol itself.

3. I got this generus 0,05 BC from this starterpage, and I still can see the transfer in my BC-Program. What only puzzles me is that that deal which was 2 weeks ago is already aproved over 3000 times and continues to be approved more. Aren't so many approvals a waste of computer calculations ? I mean there could be a lid on the ammount of any deal to be approved.

The number of confirmations simply represents the number of blocks that have been generated since it occured. It's not some kind of process that's being repeated over and over again. There is no cost for extra confirmations.
CyMeP (OP)
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April 09, 2011, 07:40:17 AM
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...  for your clear, fast and precise answers.  Wink
Alex Beckenham
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April 10, 2011, 10:19:12 AM
 #5

Right, as Bitcoins are lost, the rest of them will gain in value and therefore can be divided in smaller and smaller increments.

So even if 20,999,999 become lost, the last 1 BTC will still be enough to run the whole economy.

(And then I'll be rich, because I just happen to find some of my lost coins).

freebullets
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April 17, 2011, 06:25:27 AM
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Right, as Bitcoins are lost, the rest of them will gain in value and therefore can be divided in smaller and smaller increments.

So even if 20,999,999 become lost, the last 1 BTC will still be enough to run the whole economy.

(And then I'll be rich, because I just happen to find some of my lost coins).


It won't be. That's 1 billion units left. if there's 100 million bitcoin users, assuming wealth was perfectly spread, they could only have 10 units each. If 10 units is their life savings, there wouldn't be a denomination small enough to buy a candy bar.
Alex Beckenham
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April 17, 2011, 06:32:26 AM
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Right, as Bitcoins are lost, the rest of them will gain in value and therefore can be divided in smaller and smaller increments.

So even if 20,999,999 become lost, the last 1 BTC will still be enough to run the whole economy.

(And then I'll be rich, because I just happen to find some of my lost coins).


It won't be. That's 1 billion units left. if there's 100 million bitcoin users, assuming wealth was perfectly spread, they could only have 10 units each. If 10 units is their life savings, there wouldn't be a denomination small enough to buy a candy bar.

It'd still be 'enough' BTC and I stick by that statement. We'd need more divisibility though.

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