<p>Yes it's possible to lose bitcoins forever.  There are even ways to "provably destroy" them by sending them to an address that can't possibly have a private key.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-06T17:02:14.407Z
Interesting. Have you got a document about such cases?
Zag zag..
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-06T18:19:44.907Z
https://blockchain.info/address/1BitcoinEaterAddressDontSendf59kuE
Felipe Voloch
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-06T19:10:02.310Z
I was under the impression that *all* valid addresses had a corresponding private key, even though it may not be feasible to look up for it among the quadrillions of possibilities. Could you please expand on this?
Joe Pineda
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-07T08:02:20.740Z
Generate address, destroy private key. Now, where is the private key?
TomTom
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-07T15:07:53.127Z
@TomTom that's not "provably" which was what the answer talked about. The BitcoinEater address is impossibly unlikely to have come from a random private key.
Jannes
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-06T16:59:37.073Z
2013-12-06T16:59:37.073Z
RentFree
<p>I think that 'lost' coins will only increase the value of Bitcoin (good for holders). Less coins = more competition for those coins that are still in circulation. All in all, the bitcoin cap is simply a number. The price of bitcoin in USD is completely relative to the demand of bitcoin since bitcoin can be broken up indefinitely. There could only be 10 bitcoins in circulation and the network would behave the same, we would just be working in milli, micro, and nano-bitcoin.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-07T05:58:05.430Z
2013-12-07T05:58:05.430Z
mosca1337
<p>The maximum number of Bitcoin is 21 000 000.
However this number of Bitcoin may never exist.</p>

<p>Supposing someone have 5 BTC in their wallet. In order to protect them, they encrypted it and then forgot the passphrase, or die (sorry, this example is sad).
In this case, the real maximum number of <em>usable</em> Bitcoin would be 20 999 995...</p>

<p>Is that understanding correct? What do you think about this?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-06T16:48:11.687Z
You need to make clear that you understand difference between "lost" and "forgoten" bitcoins.
blogger
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-06T19:11:14.110Z
In his example, they're both the same - they're not directly usable anymore by the community at large.
Joe Pineda
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-06T23:32:03.720Z
related: http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/484/why-doesnt-bitcoin-return-lost-coins-back-into-the-block-reward
Murch
<protocol><encryption><lost-bitcoins><shrinking-money-supply>
Is it possible to definitely lose bitcoins?
Zag zag..
# Is it possible to definitely lose bitcoins?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-12-06)

The maximum number of Bitcoin is 21 000 000.
However this number of Bitcoin may never exist.

Supposing someone have 5 BTC in their wallet. In order to protect them, they encrypted it and then forgot the passphrase, or die (sorry, this example is sad).
In this case, the real maximum number of *usable* Bitcoin would be 20 999 995...

Is that understanding correct? What do you think about this?

**Tags:** protocol, encryption, lost-bitcoins, shrinking-money-supply

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: You need to make clear that you understand difference between "lost" and "forgoten" bitcoins.  
> **username_2**: In his example, they're both the same - they're not directly usable anymore by the community at large.  
> **username_3**: related: http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/484/why-doesnt-bitcoin-return-lost-coins-back-into-the-block-reward  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2013-12-06. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

Yes it's possible to lose bitcoins forever. There are even ways to "provably destroy" them by sending them to an address that can't possibly have a private key.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Interesting. Have you got a document about such cases?  
> **username_5**: https://blockchain.info/address/1BitcoinEaterAddressDontSendf59kuE  
> **username_2**: I was under the impression that *all* valid addresses had a corresponding private key, even though it may not be feasible to look up for it among the quadrillions of possibilities. Could you please expand on this?  
> **username_6**: Generate address, destroy private key. Now, where is the private key?  
> **username_7**: @username_6 that's not "provably" which was what the answer talked about. The BitcoinEater address is impossibly unlikely to have come from a random private key.  

---

### Answer by username_8 on 2013-12-07. Score: 1

I think that 'lost' coins will only increase the value of Bitcoin (good for holders). Less coins = more competition for those coins that are still in circulation. All in all, the bitcoin cap is simply a number. The price of bitcoin in USD is completely relative to the demand of bitcoin since bitcoin can be broken up indefinitely. There could only be 10 bitcoins in circulation and the network would behave the same, we would just be working in milli, micro, and nano-bitcoin.


---

