Some sort of lost bitcoin recycling protocol could be implemented in the future to alleviate all of that. Something along the lines of requiring bitcoins to either be transferred at least once over some very extended amount of time (say 2 years), or the bitcoins will be flagged as lost and re-mined. In terms of usability, the client could simply tell the user the time remaining for the oldest bitcoin in their wallet to expire, informing them that they need to make a simple transfer of their coins by then to retain ownership of them.
Surely the client can just detect when an address may expire and transfer it to a new address automatically since the client doesn't even show what addresses contain what portion of the balance.
Yeah, I definitely don't have a philosophical problem with that idea. The trick is that it wouldn't work for encrypted wallets, because by definition, the client couldn't have it automatically send the coins out if he doesn't know the password. Furthermore, any automated transfer every so often might theoretically be a security hole that could be exploited.
man, not that btc recycling again, you seem to have serious issues grasping a decentralized store of value economy.
After being born, educated and lived almost a whole life in a system like we have today, we try to desperately to put concepts and existent ideas into every new system that already works by it's rules only to avoid having to learn from scratch.
Educate yourself a little more
I'm just bringing it up as a consideration -- I'm not set on it or anything. I think you're making an unnecessary judgement on my grasp on the concept of decentralized stores of value, instead of simply making your point.
After being born, educated and lived almost a whole life in a system like we have today, we try to desperately to put concepts and existent ideas into every new system that already works by it's rules only to avoid having to learn from scratch.
Educate yourself a little more
Come on, do you really think I'm doing this? I'm very persuaded by anarcho-capitalist perspectives, which of course isn't anywhere near the majority perspective I've grown up around, so I don't think I'm very motivated to do what you're suggesting. Anyway, coming up with a reasonable way to maintain bitcoin's count in circulation could be argued as being contrary to any system any of us have grown up with, because, in contrast, our current governments do nothing of the sort.
