Bitcoins recent surge to that oh so elusive $10 000 mark has seen renewed faith and positivity in the currency of late making headlines across the world. As it gains more traction with it comes media attention and popularity. More investors become interested in this miraculous internet money that is worth more than any single bar of gold or world fiat currency by single unit value.
But the rise to $10 000 has been ten years in the making and believe it or not there was a time when BTC wasn't worth a penny nevermind a single dollar. In the early days of Bitcoin as recent as 04 November 2011, the currency was still worth less than a dollar
Gone and now forgotten
During those times and even to this day, surprisingly, people did not take the currency seriously and look after it and have lost access to it for some reason. This lost Bitcoin is now basically removed from circulation, just like Gold sitting at the bottom of the ocean or paper money that was burned it can never be found and added back into the system.
Image source: - fortune.com
How many Bitcoins are lost?
Over the years Bitcoin was lost due to physical thumb drives and cold storage wallets being lost or overwritten, damaged or lost paper wallets, devices with hot wallets being corrupted or destroyed. These incidents coupled with the fact that and users not storing copies of their private keys in various places so they may recover their money.
Due to this, there are many wallets on the Bitcoin network which are now holding funds but are inactive with no way of getting to them short of stumbling across the keys or using a quantum computer to brute force your way in, which is highly impractical at this point.
According to new research from digital forensics agency Chainalysis that studied the bitcoin blockchain, they found that around 3.79 million bitcoins are already gone for good based on a high estimate—and 2.78 million based on a low one.
Those numbers mean that 17% to 23% of existing bitcoins are now lost forever. Which makes current Bitcoin even more valuable as well as newly minted virgin Bitcoin.
What do lost Bitcoins do to the price?
While the lost Bitcoin is a painful and costly learning experience for the wallet owner, it is by no means an issue for the blockchain and the Bitcoin network. The more Bitcoin removed from circulation means that along with a decrease in yearly inflation. The amount of Bitcoins traded becomes less each year.
This reduction in supply pushes up scarcity which has a knock-on effect on prices as demand rises.
Dealing with your loss
What would you do if you lost Bitcoin? What would you do if you magically recovered lost Bitcoin now? How do you make sure you take care of the Bitcoin you own? Let me know in the comments :)
Previous ADSactly Crypto posts
- ADSactly Crypto: How Bitcoin Transaction Costs Work
- ADSactly Crypto: What Is the Bitcoin Halving?
- ADSactly Crypto: What Is A Bitcoin Paper Wallet
- ADSactly Crypto: The Importance of Private Keys
- ADSactly Crypto: How Bitcoin Futures Could Affect The Future Of Bitcoin
Authored by @chekohler
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Posted by: @morkrock
I know I have a minimum of 17.something or anther out there on a cracked up old hard drive I used for mining when it wasn't even worth a penny. When 10 MH was a beast of a miner :P
and you don't know where the drive is anymore? Gosh, that would be some haul if you still have it and that mining sure was worth it lol. I'm sure there will be plenty more horror stories of losing BTC in the future
Nah, crushed in a landfill somewhere I'm sure.
You really are a great teacher. You have the gift of explaining in a simple way the cryptocurrency market. I don't know what I would do if I lost bitcoin in my wallet. What can't happen to me is to stop reading your publications so interesting, thoughtful and educational. A big hello to you @chekohler and thanks to @adsactly for sharing your post.
Thank you that really means a lot, inspires me to keep writing about it! Lol I think losing your Bitcoin would hurt anyone! I can’t imagine how those people feel now
As it usually is in your posts, @chekohler, accurate and useful information. I'm not a BTC owner, but I appreciate it. I suppose the owners of BTC should take their forecasts and be attentive.
Thanks for always taking the time to read it and being a regular commenter! Indeed you can’t be too careful on how you store your BTC! I hope you will own some soon even if it’s just a few satoshis worth
Thanks a lot for this post.
I don't own any bitcoins, but I don't dare imagine how I'd feel if I ever owned and lost it.
Hmmmmm, well, it could never be compared to the loss a dear one, I'll survive.
Indeed it wouldn't compare to losing a loved one but I'm sure it would hurt too. Especially for those who could do with that money or couldn't afford to lose sums of money like that
I think I'd die! To lose something so costly must be terrible. I once saw in a chapter of the series The Big Bang Theory how Sheldon and his friends lost a lot of BTC just because they formatted a computer and at that moment it seemed incredible to me that so much money could evaporate just because of that. I think we should have all the backup and security measures with the cryptomoney wallet, to avoid any loss or theft. Better safe than sorry! Good post, @chekohler
LOL I would also feel pretty terrible if I was one of those first Bitcoin owners who thought it wouldn’t ever be worth a lot of money back in the early 2000s and got rid of it!
I saw that episode too, and the sad thing is that lost BTC will only be worth more so it keeps getting more painful!
Just shows how precious the BTC we have no will be and how after the next halving it’s going to be even more valuable
People will continue to lose or forget about it I’m sure it won’t stop! Being in control of your own finances was never going to be easy! I agree you need to take great care in how you store it
Such an interesting article! Do Not know what i would do when i lost all my btc. I think i would buy again some.
And i hold Most of my btc in a Hardware wallet, ledger nano. I think its the safest was :)
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You’re one of the brave ones a lot of people would give up, I know I felt like that when I got hacked and lost a lot of crypto but I have to keep on now to earn it all back
Yeah a nano ledger or paper wallet is a good idea and storing your private keys in a safe olace! Cold storage is always safer
Thanks ;) yeah i think it will be a Situation in which you have lost your btc but you did Not changed your mindset about it all hopefully. Oh you got hacked? On mt gox or one of these other hacks? Very smart to keep going and looking forward. So true!
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No it was a site called coindirect, there 2FA wasn't working and my account was compromised and I lost all my SIA, XRP , XVG, and Lumens I was very sad about it lol. Here's the post about it
Nice post! I like it.
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Thank you so much 😍
Thanks, glad you found it interesting :)
Thanks for your love, my brother!
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