In most case the loss of bitcoin is permanent, so it is generally the fault of the bitcoin users themselve who fail to secure them. Always keep an offline backup of the wallet file and all password associated with the wallet and consider inheriting ownership to someone you can trust. This is the best way to minimize the risk of permanently losing bitcoin as there is no successful way to recover lost bitcoin.
I don't think that what you are thinking is a wise way to return bitcoin to full supply in the market after it has been declared permanently lost. However, long-term bitcoin holders are still possible to deactivate a wallet filled with the number of bitcoin they purchased in the last 5-10 years. If your thinking works, then I think bitcoin will no longer be called a decentralized asset.
Topic: Mechanism for Retrieving lost BTC - page 2. (Read 298 times)
Is there a way to recover lost BTC?
There's no way to recover them, lost Bitcoin is just permanently lost, and sad to know, the lost Bitcoin kept growing in available circulating supply year by year. This is just considered as forgotten or forever lost and it will be reducing the overall circulating supply. There's no way can change the fixed limited supply of 21 million, unless if there's someone who will change the Bitcoin protocol which is a big irrelevance from its users and also the miners. You can't compare the fiat currency into Bitcoin, while the Federal Reserve can print more money or for the government can continue to fund its deficit spending.
Just my two cents ain't expert about banking finance.
You are comparing the classic financial system to Bitcoin, and here you are making the biggest mistake in your attempt to devise some kind of mechanism that would allow anyone to succeed in successfully regaining the BTC they have somehow lost. However, you cannot implement such a system in something as complex as Bitcoin, because then it would mean that there are vulnerabilities that would allow anyone to try to steal someone else's BTC under the pretext of saving something that does not really belong to them.
Of course there are mechanisms that allow anyone to try to recover lost information (seed, private key or wallet password), but it all depends on how complicated a particular situation is - whether someone is missing 2 or 5 words from the seed, or the password is simple or complicated. In this regard, I can say that there are tools that allow anyone to try to save their lost or locked information, or that there is a service that does such things.
However, if the funds are in the custodial wallet, then it all depends on that service - a good example is the hack Mt.Gox, which has not yet compensated its clients, and so many years have passed, and the thing is completely clear.
For more information ->
Trying to recover bitcoin? Read this
Bitcoin Wallet Recovery Services - for forgotten wallet password
Of course there are mechanisms that allow anyone to try to recover lost information (seed, private key or wallet password), but it all depends on how complicated a particular situation is - whether someone is missing 2 or 5 words from the seed, or the password is simple or complicated. In this regard, I can say that there are tools that allow anyone to try to save their lost or locked information, or that there is a service that does such things.
However, if the funds are in the custodial wallet, then it all depends on that service - a good example is the hack Mt.Gox, which has not yet compensated its clients, and so many years have passed, and the thing is completely clear.
For more information ->
Trying to recover bitcoin? Read this
Bitcoin Wallet Recovery Services - for forgotten wallet password
Answering "easy questions" to recover bitcoin would be anti-bitcoin though, because who would review it? Recovering coins would require trust and centralisation.
The only way to prove an original owner is with their private keys. If you don't have the private keys or know who does, then you don't know the intentions of the original owners. Recycling the coins could remove wealth from original real owners. What happens when you have people like Faketoshi claim addresses that aren't theirs?
If lost coin is an issue, then you can constantly inflate the supply so the maximum is not 21 million. Convince the miners and nodes to do that.
The only way to prove an original owner is with their private keys. If you don't have the private keys or know who does, then you don't know the intentions of the original owners. Recycling the coins could remove wealth from original real owners. What happens when you have people like Faketoshi claim addresses that aren't theirs?
If lost coin is an issue, then you can constantly inflate the supply so the maximum is not 21 million. Convince the miners and nodes to do that.
Just like the fiat banking system, where monies hardly lost because there is always provision for next of kin who will claim such monies in the case of demise. BTC should have a similar feature. If not, there should be a periodic review, maybe every 5years, when all the platforms give access to the owners to retrieve thier BTC without private keys either by answering easy questions. (Though this might compromise security, but this should only apply to such accounts that has been dormant for years).
Again, if the above proposals do not apply, there should be a system that will re-incorporate the permanently lost BTC into circulation as new BTC(maybe every decade) in order to augment the fixed 21million supply.
With this the BTC supply would be technically infinite, because it will look like recycling the lost 20% every 10yrs.
For this to be effective, there should be a system to accurately differentiate lost BTC from BTC on longer term savings.
If the above does not fit still. Is there a way to recover lost BTC?
Because I see this as a feature fighting against BTC growth, because not all users are educated, not all are technically inclined and not all are good record keepers.
Thank you all.
No. If you were to implement a system which gives arguably easier ways to recover their Bitcoin, then it won't work. Bitcoin cannot restrict the number of people or ensure the authenticity of such requests, because there isn't any central authority. It is up to their user to create multiple backups and redundancy for their funds, and I expect this to be practiced more nowadays given the rise in the price. If they can't properly store their private keys or seeds, then too bad for them.Again, if the above proposals do not apply, there should be a system that will re-incorporate the permanently lost BTC into circulation as new BTC(maybe every decade) in order to augment the fixed 21million supply.
With this the BTC supply would be technically infinite, because it will look like recycling the lost 20% every 10yrs.
For this to be effective, there should be a system to accurately differentiate lost BTC from BTC on longer term savings.
If the above does not fit still. Is there a way to recover lost BTC?
Because I see this as a feature fighting against BTC growth, because not all users are educated, not all are technically inclined and not all are good record keepers.
Thank you all.
Why do people always think we need to reincoporate the Bitcoins back into the supply? There isn't any way to ascertain if coins are lost at all and having 21 million or anywhere near that is not necessarily for Bitcoin. There is no problems with a circulating supply that is much lower than that. You cannot start stealing user's funds like that, nor is Bitcoin designed to have an unlimited supply cap.
It is known that there is 21million BTC available and minable. Then about 87% of these minable BTC has been mined. Also, the last BTC would be mined in 100+yrs.
Research also showed that about 20% of the whole BTC supply are permanently lost or irretrievable.
The causes of these losses are and not limited to;
A. lost of private keys of the users
B. Death of BTC owners
C. Error by BTC users.
Just like the fiat banking system, where monies hardly lost because there is always provision for next of kin who will claim such monies in the case of demise. BTC should have a similar feature. If not, there should be a periodic review, maybe every 5years, when all the platforms give access to the owners to retrieve thier BTC without private keys either by answering easy questions. (Though this might compromise security, but this should only apply to such accounts that has been dormant for years).
Again, if the above proposals do not apply, there should be a system that will re-incorporate the permanently lost BTC into circulation as new BTC(maybe every decade) in order to augment the fixed 21million supply.
With this the BTC supply would be technically infinite, because it will look like recycling the lost 20% every 10yrs.
For this to be effective, there should be a system to accurately differentiate lost BTC from BTC on longer term savings.
If the above does not fit still. Is there a way to recover lost BTC?
Because I see this as a feature fighting against BTC growth, because not all users are educated, not all are technically inclined and not all are good record keepers.
Thank you all.
Research also showed that about 20% of the whole BTC supply are permanently lost or irretrievable.
The causes of these losses are and not limited to;
A. lost of private keys of the users
B. Death of BTC owners
C. Error by BTC users.
Just like the fiat banking system, where monies hardly lost because there is always provision for next of kin who will claim such monies in the case of demise. BTC should have a similar feature. If not, there should be a periodic review, maybe every 5years, when all the platforms give access to the owners to retrieve thier BTC without private keys either by answering easy questions. (Though this might compromise security, but this should only apply to such accounts that has been dormant for years).
Again, if the above proposals do not apply, there should be a system that will re-incorporate the permanently lost BTC into circulation as new BTC(maybe every decade) in order to augment the fixed 21million supply.
With this the BTC supply would be technically infinite, because it will look like recycling the lost 20% every 10yrs.
For this to be effective, there should be a system to accurately differentiate lost BTC from BTC on longer term savings.
If the above does not fit still. Is there a way to recover lost BTC?
Because I see this as a feature fighting against BTC growth, because not all users are educated, not all are technically inclined and not all are good record keepers.
Thank you all.
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