You guyz are killing me.
All generated bitcoins are sitting on blockchain. None of them is lost!
People may loose their control over private keys (which is required to say "Hey, those bitcoins are mine"). That doesn't mean those bitcoins are lost forever.
How to loose bitcoins forever?
If you manage to delete some blocks from all of the full nodes; then yes we may say some of bitcoins are lost. But no, you can't do that. There're lots of offline computers which have entire blockchain. You can try to delete but you'll fail and we can recover it.
You're arguing this question: "How many bitcoins are not controlled by people?" or "How many people lost their control over their private keys? (and how many bitcoin balances are affected on those keys?)"
And the answer is "Unknown" (You can't know that).
Also those controls can be regained by same people or others.
In conclusion; none of the bitcoins are lost. They're on the network.
Topic: How many Bitcoins are lost forever? - page 33. (Read 43090 times)
There is no way to estimate percentage of lost coins though. Coins haven't been moved for months or years could still be owned by someone.
I was thinking exactly this. It would not be unusual for someone to sit on a pile of them and wait for the value to go up. I read an article that said if 15% of people in the world used bitcoin, then they would be worth 500k each. Now, I know this number is far fetched and not something to count on, but the point is that many people believe that the value of them will go up a lot in the future, so they will sit on them.
There is no way to estimate percentage of lost coins though. Coins haven't been moved for months or years could still be owned by someone.
I would guess and say about 20% of the BITCOIN supply is lost forever.
Satoshi's addresses are unique and easily distinguishable from other addresses because he never combined his mined coins into a few large addresses in the same way other early miners did. Since he was also pretty much the only person mining throughout most of 2009 (apart from Hal Finney who mined alongside him for a brief period), almost all of the coins that comprise his massive stash are spread out across thousands of addresses containing 50 BTC that have all since remained untouched.
For example, this is probably one of Satoshi's addresses:
https://blockchain.info/address/15ubjFzmWVvj3TqcpJ1bSsb8joJ6gF6dZa
if he indeed sold those coin, he sold them at the 1200 peak, seeing how he was a firmly believer, still there is chance that he lost all those 1M coins, which would be a good thing, not for him maybe...
It's unlikely that he sold his coins since they haven't been moved on the blockchain. The only way he could have sold them while still remaining undetected would be if he sold the private keys to these addresses instead.
Thanks, well at lease we know there is a lot of this wallets around that he never touch and is ever going to sell, there are some crazy wallets out there and it actually fun to see the movement on the blockchain of so much money, is like standing on the traffic lane of a highway of money, something you cant do we the banking sector of course.
That is an interesting question but unfortunately there is no way to ever know. I am sure a lot of people got in at the beginning and became bored of it and just left or forgot about their wallets. If only they could be recovered and distrubted to all! 
That would be sweet!
Imagine, What if those wallet are still being registered in their names and those bitcoins are unused, did you hear any such methods that any responsible authorities from Bitcoin who take care of these things and safeguard those forgetten bitcoin accounts and return to them safely ? That would be sweet!
50 million
Every day i believe there are some "lost" coins. I had a wallet with exactly 256 btc that is lost forever aswell, back in 2009 i think, i just heard of btc, tried it out and turned away,
upon returning in 2011, well, i realized what i lost.
Imho, every address that isn't touched since 2009 or so, is lost. With the exception of Satoshi's wallets, since i doubt he would have no backups, and it would make no sense not to have
a good amount of funds of your own creation. If he was to sell everything, that would make him look hypocritical.
cheers
upon returning in 2011, well, i realized what i lost.
Imho, every address that isn't touched since 2009 or so, is lost. With the exception of Satoshi's wallets, since i doubt he would have no backups, and it would make no sense not to have
a good amount of funds of your own creation. If he was to sell everything, that would make him look hypocritical.
cheers
256 BTC?? wow thats too much.
What was your reaction when you saw the bitcoin rising to 1000$?
I lost private key with 0.05 btc so its nothing in compare to you.
Back in the day that i aquired that amount, it was worth virtually nothing, even the faucet was giving away 5 bitcoins per 24 hours/IP.
I randomly decided to own the same amount of btc as my laptop had ram memory (go figure), and knowing so little i backed up wallet.h instead of wallet.dat
I would be much more terrified if i lost them later on, after buying them at a much higher price, but i can't say that it doesn't hurt, even after all the years..
cheers
Im late to know bitoin i remember coinbase give 0.1/user where he can upload bank documen or id card but im not try it i still play PTC,PPC and like that.
that a big amount lost in this time but nothing if price still 25cent
i think it is safe to assume all satoshi's bitcoins as lost forever, not because of lost private keys or anything, i am sure he has all of them but because he is not going to use any of those coins.
Every day i believe there are some "lost" coins. I had a wallet with exactly 256 btc that is lost forever aswell, back in 2009 i think, i just heard of btc, tried it out and turned away,
upon returning in 2011, well, i realized what i lost.
Imho, every address that isn't touched since 2009 or so, is lost. With the exception of Satoshi's wallets, since i doubt he would have no backups, and it would make no sense not to have
a good amount of funds of your own creation. If he was to sell everything, that would make him look hypocritical.
cheers
upon returning in 2011, well, i realized what i lost.
Imho, every address that isn't touched since 2009 or so, is lost. With the exception of Satoshi's wallets, since i doubt he would have no backups, and it would make no sense not to have
a good amount of funds of your own creation. If he was to sell everything, that would make him look hypocritical.
cheers
256 BTC?? wow thats too much.
What was your reaction when you saw the bitcoin rising to 1000$?
I lost private key with 0.05 btc so its nothing in compare to you.
Back in the day that i aquired that amount, it was worth virtually nothing, even the faucet was giving away 5 bitcoins per 24 hours/IP.
I randomly decided to own the same amount of btc as my laptop had ram memory (go figure), and knowing so little i backed up wallet.h instead of wallet.dat
I would be much more terrified if i lost them later on, after buying them at a much higher price, but i can't say that it doesn't hurt, even after all the years..
cheers
well nowadays it will get harder to loose any wallet with coins since they worth something now ,before they were just a new way to trade
How can bitcoin be lost? i cant understand this? maybe the fees that are taken from each transaction ?
Bitcoins are lost due to many factors like someone lost access to their wallet due to unfortunate HDD failure. Has lost his private key and didn't backup his wallet.
By the way, the fees that are taken from each transaction is actually for the miners.
The worst thing is that too many computer noobs are in bitcoin. I mean how many "normal" persons do you know that make regular backups of their data? Normal people dont think about a harddisc crashing, notebook stolen or things like that. They only check it once its too late. Though one might say nearly everyone who does make backups did learn it the hard way. 
Anyway... realizing that you hold your bank account on your pc is a whole new level. And MANY will lose their money that way. Its a pity but it will come that way even more than now.
And even when you make backups. The next level is dying bitcoiners. Only a couple of you guys have some things put in motion so that your relatives can get your bitcoins after your death. I didnt too.
So await ALOT of coins being lost in the future and past already. Though in the past most often it would have been because they werent worth enough at that time.
If you think about it, it is good thing that people loses bitcoin, because if there are less coins, the price will go up. Dont you think so? Anyway... realizing that you hold your bank account on your pc is a whole new level. And MANY will lose their money that way. Its a pity but it will come that way even more than now.
And even when you make backups. The next level is dying bitcoiners. Only a couple of you guys have some things put in motion so that your relatives can get your bitcoins after your death. I didnt too.
So await ALOT of coins being lost in the future and past already. Though in the past most often it would have been because they werent worth enough at that time.
The worst thing is that too many computer noobs are in bitcoin. I mean how many "normal" persons do you know that make regular backups of their data? Normal people dont think about a harddisc crashing, notebook stolen or things like that. They only check it once its too late. Though one might say nearly everyone who does make backups did learn it the hard way.
Anyway... realizing that you hold your bank account on your pc is a whole new level. And MANY will lose their money that way. Its a pity but it will come that way even more than now.
And even when you make backups. The next level is dying bitcoiners. Only a couple of you guys have some things put in motion so that your relatives can get your bitcoins after your death. I didnt too.
So await ALOT of coins being lost in the future and past already. Though in the past most often it would have been because they werent worth enough at that time.
Anyway... realizing that you hold your bank account on your pc is a whole new level. And MANY will lose their money that way. Its a pity but it will come that way even more than now.
And even when you make backups. The next level is dying bitcoiners. Only a couple of you guys have some things put in motion so that your relatives can get your bitcoins after your death. I didnt too.
So await ALOT of coins being lost in the future and past already. Though in the past most often it would have been because they werent worth enough at that time.
Every day i believe there are some "lost" coins. I had a wallet with exactly 256 btc that is lost forever aswell, back in 2009 i think, i just heard of btc, tried it out and turned away,
upon returning in 2011, well, i realized what i lost.
Imho, every address that isn't touched since 2009 or so, is lost. With the exception of Satoshi's wallets, since i doubt he would have no backups, and it would make no sense not to have
a good amount of funds of your own creation. If he was to sell everything, that would make him look hypocritical.
cheers
upon returning in 2011, well, i realized what i lost.
Imho, every address that isn't touched since 2009 or so, is lost. With the exception of Satoshi's wallets, since i doubt he would have no backups, and it would make no sense not to have
a good amount of funds of your own creation. If he was to sell everything, that would make him look hypocritical.
cheers
256 BTC?? wow thats too much.
What was your reaction when you saw the bitcoin rising to 1000$?
I lost private key with 0.05 btc so its nothing in compare to you.
Every day i believe there are some "lost" coins. I had a wallet with exactly 256 btc that is lost forever aswell, back in 2009 i think, i just heard of btc, tried it out and turned away,
upon returning in 2011, well, i realized what i lost.
Imho, every address that isn't touched since 2009 or so, is lost. With the exception of Satoshi's wallets, since i doubt he would have no backups, and it would make no sense not to have
a good amount of funds of your own creation. If he was to sell everything, that would make him look hypocritical.
cheers
upon returning in 2011, well, i realized what i lost.
Imho, every address that isn't touched since 2009 or so, is lost. With the exception of Satoshi's wallets, since i doubt he would have no backups, and it would make no sense not to have
a good amount of funds of your own creation. If he was to sell everything, that would make him look hypocritical.
cheers
I find it pretty stunning that anyone would think Satoshi lost his private keys. This was a cryptography expert and, y'know, the creator of the whole gig. You wouldn't devote years of your life and obsessively hide your digital footprint only to accidentally hit the delete button or not have anything backed up.
For the overall health of his creation he should've laid out some intentions for them before disappearing.
For the overall health of his creation he should've laid out some intentions for them before disappearing.
It's unlikely that he sold his coins since they haven't been moved on the blockchain. The only way he could have sold them while still remaining undetected would be if he sold the private keys to these addresses instead.
Goodness; why in the world would someone buy private keys??? The original owner could still have them and move the funds before the buyer. The only way I would agree to buy private keys would be if the original owner sat there while I moved the funds. 
if he indeed sold those coin, he sold them at the 1200 peak, seeing how he was a firmly believer, still there is chance that he lost all those 1M coins, which would be a good thing, not for him maybe...
It's unlikely that he sold his coins since they haven't been moved on the blockchain. The only way he could have sold them while still remaining undetected would be if he sold the private keys for these addresses instead.
as a far as i know there isn't one address that is holding all the 1M coin, there is only the genesis block address that it is still there, but this does not mean much
Well we can't be sure as many said.
It is VERY important to take into account the founder of bitcoin, satoshi nakamoto.
Is widelyspeculated known that he owns more than one million bitcoin.
Do you consider them lost? What if he wakes up someday and dumps all his btc on the maket?
It is VERY important to take into account the founder of bitcoin, satoshi nakamoto.
Is widely
Do you consider them lost? What if he wakes up someday and dumps all his btc on the maket?
Does anyone have the nakamoto suspected wallet address ?, but you raise a good point but facts showed bitcoin can hold specially after getting goxed, many he doesnt need to dump into the market because he could just sell them to a private broker.
Satoshi's addresses are unique and easily distinguishable from other addresses because he never combined his mined coins into a few large addresses in the same way other early miners did. Since he was also pretty much the only person mining throughout most of 2009 (apart from Hal Finney who mined alongside him for a brief period), almost all of the coins that comprise his massive stash are spread out across thousands of addresses containing 50 BTC that have all since remained untouched.
For example, this is probably one of Satoshi's addresses:
https://blockchain.info/address/15ubjFzmWVvj3TqcpJ1bSsb8joJ6gF6dZa
if he indeed sold those coin, he sold them at the 1200 peak, seeing how he was a firmly believer, still there is chance that he lost all those 1M coins, which would be a good thing, not for him maybe...
It's unlikely that he sold his coins since they haven't been moved on the blockchain. The only way he could have sold them while still remaining undetected would be if he sold the private keys to these addresses instead.
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