<p>The other answers are only partially correct. BitCoin uses ECDSA keys to secure wallets. Your public address is simply the public key of the keypair, and your "wallet" has the private key for each public address (note: it doesn't show you this key as too many people would do foolish things with it). Currently there's no practical means to reverse a public key to find the private. So coins secured by a lost private key (lost the wallet or otherwise) are inaccessible.</p>

<p>However, ECDSA is susceptible to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shor%27s_algorithm" rel="nofollow">Shor's algorithm</a>. Quantum processors are limited to 4-qubits, last I looked, so BitCoin's 256-bit keys are safe for the time being. Eventually Quantum Processors will get to the point where they can crack 256-bit ECDSA. Just before that happens BitCoin has a built-in mechanism to announce the use of a new address algorithm, everyone starts using that and life is good still. Just after those processors are available someone will undoubtedly use them to crack the wallets which have not been upgraded and grab the BitCoins, returning them to circulation.</p>

<p>I'm not sure if this was an intended "feature" of BitCoin. ECDSA was the best we had (still the best of the well cryptanalyed algorithms, as of writing), but we've known for some time that someday quantum processors would make it obsolete. In any case it's likely that 256-qubit processors will not be available for a decade, possibly more, so nothing to worry about for a while.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-13T14:50:41.733Z
2013-11-13T14:50:41.733Z
Chris S
<p>As @pyramids and @john-devor explained, as it stands today, the bitcoin mining rules will not make up for any lost bitcoins. So in theory the total amount of bitcoins in circulation will never reach the full amount initially defined by the protocol.</p>

<p>If you think about it, it's very difficult to identify "lost" coins. Just because a wallet is not touched in years, it doesn't necessarily mean the private key was lost (as likely as it may appear).</p>

<p>Having said that, Bitcoin is only sofware, and that software can be modified in the future.</p>

<p>If somewhere down the line people find that there aren't enough bitcoins to serve the global economy (remember that most people will not be trading BTCs but mBTCs or uBTCs, etc) nothing is stopping the community and developers from agreeing on a new ceiling and implementing that in a future version of all bitcoin clients, effectively making more coins available for mining.</p>

<p>It would be a tricky change from a socio-economic perspective, because it would have a significant impact on the value of the existing coins, but it is possible.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-13T13:46:29.370Z
2013-11-13T13:46:29.370Z
ktorn
<p>Sadly, lost Bitcoins are lost... never to be re-incarnated. </p>

<p>That said, your (non-lost) bitcoins should rise in value because of such loss occurring over time.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-13T04:17:21.573Z
2013-11-13T04:17:21.573Z
John Devor
<p>I'm sure that this question has been asked before, but I just can't seem to find it.</p>

<p>If there is a limit of 21 million coins to be mined, then what happens if Bitcoin wallets get deleted? Will there still be some percentage of mining that occurs to make up for the lost coins? </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-14T09:49:47.577Z
related: http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/1638/what-could-be-the-consequences-of-many-bitcoins-being-lost-out-of-circulation-if
Murch
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-14T09:50:02.953Z
also related: http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/484/why-doesnt-bitcoin-return-lost-coins-back-into-the-block-reward
Murch
<shrinking-money-supply>
Does Bitcoin account for deleted bitcoins over time?
Ci3
# Does Bitcoin account for deleted bitcoins over time?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-11-13)

I'm sure that this question has been asked before, but I just can't seem to find it.

If there is a limit of 21 million coins to be mined, then what happens if Bitcoin wallets get deleted? Will there still be some percentage of mining that occurs to make up for the lost coins?

**Tags:** shrinking-money-supply

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: related: http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/1638/what-could-be-the-consequences-of-many-bitcoins-being-lost-out-of-circulation-if  
> **username_1**: also related: http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/484/why-doesnt-bitcoin-return-lost-coins-back-into-the-block-reward  

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2013-11-13. Score: 0

The other answers are only partially correct. BitCoin uses ECDSA keys to secure wallets. Your public address is simply the public key of the keypair, and your "wallet" has the private key for each public address (note: it doesn't show you this key as too many people would do foolish things with it). Currently there's no practical means to reverse a public key to find the private. So coins secured by a lost private key (lost the wallet or otherwise) are inaccessible.

However, ECDSA is susceptible to [Shor's algorithm](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shor%27s_algorithm). Quantum processors are limited to 4-qubits, last I looked, so BitCoin's 256-bit keys are safe for the time being. Eventually Quantum Processors will get to the point where they can crack 256-bit ECDSA. Just before that happens BitCoin has a built-in mechanism to announce the use of a new address algorithm, everyone starts using that and life is good still. Just after those processors are available someone will undoubtedly use them to crack the wallets which have not been upgraded and grab the BitCoins, returning them to circulation.

I'm not sure if this was an intended "feature" of BitCoin. ECDSA was the best we had (still the best of the well cryptanalyed algorithms, as of writing), but we've known for some time that someday quantum processors would make it obsolete. In any case it's likely that 256-qubit processors will not be available for a decade, possibly more, so nothing to worry about for a while.


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### Answer by username_3 on 2013-11-13. Score: 0

As @pyramids and @username_4-username_4 explained, as it stands today, the bitcoin mining rules will not make up for any lost bitcoins. So in theory the total amount of bitcoins in circulation will never reach the full amount initially defined by the protocol.

If you think about it, it's very difficult to identify "lost" coins. Just because a wallet is not touched in years, it doesn't necessarily mean the private key was lost (as likely as it may appear).

Having said that, Bitcoin is only sofware, and that software can be modified in the future.

If somewhere down the line people find that there aren't enough bitcoins to serve the global economy (remember that most people will not be trading BTCs but mBTCs or uBTCs, etc) nothing is stopping the community and developers from agreeing on a new ceiling and implementing that in a future version of all bitcoin clients, effectively making more coins available for mining.

It would be a tricky change from a socio-economic perspective, because it would have a significant impact on the value of the existing coins, but it is possible.


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### Answer by username_4 on 2013-11-13. Score: 0

Sadly, lost Bitcoins are lost... never to be re-incarnated.

That said, your (non-lost) bitcoins should rise in value because of such loss occurring over time.


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