i was once able to "recover" my lost coins, But that was because i made a backup of my Wallet.dat
So when i reinstalled Bitcoin, and the blockchain was downloading, My transaction began to popup, By then end of the block chain, I had my coins.
But ofcourse if you loose the wallet.dat your fucked
Topic: What happens to bitcoins when you loose your wallet? (Read 1292 times)
It could be that a private key doesn't even exist
Wow, I hadn't thought of that. Yeah I guess it might be the case that either RIPEMD-160 or SHA-256 isn't surjective. What about ECDSA?
An example of coins which are lost:
http://blockexplorer.com/address/1BitcoinEaterAddressDontSendf59kuE
http://blockexplorer.com/address/1111111111111111111114oLvT2
People made up these addresses, and sent coins to them. No one owns the private keys for them, so no one can use these addresses in their wallet. It could be that a private key doesn't even exist, but if it does, then it will be astronomically hard to find. As in, bruteforcing with a supercomputer for centuries.
http://blockexplorer.com/address/1BitcoinEaterAddressDontSendf59kuE
http://blockexplorer.com/address/1111111111111111111114oLvT2
People made up these addresses, and sent coins to them. No one owns the private keys for them, so no one can use these addresses in their wallet. It could be that a private key doesn't even exist, but if it does, then it will be astronomically hard to find. As in, bruteforcing with a supercomputer for centuries.
Yes, and?
Sorry, you're too late. This thread is now about a movie project.
If I loose my wallet and the bitcoins in it, does that mean Bitcoin has forever lost those bitcoins? If people keep loosing wallets, it's not going to be 21 million Bitcoins in 2050. or what is the inflation end date.
Yes, and? It's like gold, if somehow you lose gold (send it in the sun with a rocket) well it's lost.
2050 - The Lost Bitcoins
Directed by Satoshi?
If I loose my wallet and the bitcoins in it, does that mean Bitcoin has forever lost those bitcoins? If people keep loosing wallets, it's not going to be 21 million Bitcoins in 2050. or what is the inflation end date.
You almost always have a backup from a few months ago and older backups have a pool of 100 "future" keys, so you recover everything.
Or, in 2050, breaking 40-year-old algorithms is a piece of cake, Bitcoin has already moved to better algorithms an few times, now people break older addresses and recover lost coins. It's a hobby for some.
2050 - The Lost Bitcoins
Directed by Satoshi?
If I loose my wallet and the bitcoins in it, does that mean Bitcoin has forever lost those bitcoins? If people keep loosing wallets, it's not going to be 21 million Bitcoins in 2050. or what is the inflation end date.
You almost always have a backup from a few months ago and older backups have a pool of 100 "future" keys, so you recover everything.
Or, in 2050, breaking 40-year-old algorithms is a piece of cake, Bitcoin has already moved to better algorithms a few times, now people break older addresses and recover lost coins. It's a hobby for some.
The coins drop into limbo..you don't want to go after them down there.
As far as I know, if you lose your wallet, those coins are lost forever.
You could see them in blockexplorer.com but noone could ever get them again. That is so sad..
As far as I know, if you lose your wallet, those coins are lost forever.
If I loose my wallet and the bitcoins in it, does that mean Bitcoin has forever lost those bitcoins? If people keep loosing wallets, it's not going to be 21 million Bitcoins in 2050. or what is the inflation end date.
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