As theymos put it a couple of years back: it takes a while to feel the scarcity. Eventually, there will be less new bitcoins on the market, and that affects the price.
to explain loyces thing in detail
its not about market custody/reserves. its about the amount of coin on offer on a market orderbook listing thats being processed that second.
it doesnt matter how many coins are in circulation or custodianised on a market..
the price is not linked to coins in circulation/custody
it only matters what amount of coin is offered to the present buyer for the present buyers amount of fiat
and that does not have to be whole coins. it can be decimal amounts
thus its nothing like the nasdaq "shares" economics of needing to sell whole shares
..
how much is offered on a current orderbook listing being processed that second is also a decision where
its the underlying cheapest cost of acquisition(mining cost of most efficient miners. that set a bench underlying value no one wants to sell below)
and then on the market even if a market only has 200k btc or 575k btc custodianised people speculate above that underlying value..
...
EG
2012 had 10.5m coins in circulation
mtgox had 200k coins
2023 has 19m coins in circulation
binance has 575k coins
yet this (high school 'nasdaq' economics(facepalm)) would suggest more supply = lower price
but no. because miners costs per coin is the main underlying decider of a non zero bottom, the price went up on the market that speculate above the non zero bottom
EG if buyer in 2012 only offered $500 they would get~100btc
EG if buyer in 2023 only offered $500 they would get~0.02btc
because the cheapest bitcoin mining is X means everyone refuses to sell below X
and its this X that has increased in cost over the years due to more difficult hash cost requirement and also less reward offered for that hashing cost