How Many Bitcoins Have Been 'Lost' Forever?
Summary
Bitcoin has a controlled supply, meaning that the amount of coins that can be mined are finite.
The amount of Bitcoins actually in circulation is far lower than the amount of Bitcoins in existence, due to accidental loss or willful destruction.
Of the 16 and a half million Bitcoins that have been mined so far, it is estimated that up to 25% have been lost for good.
Bitcoin has a controlled supply, meaning that amount of coins that can be created are finite. The Bitcoin protocol is designed in such a way that new bitcoins are created at a decreasing and predictable rate. The number of new bitcoins created each year is automatically halved over time until bitcoin issuance halts completely with a total of 21 million bitcoins in existence.
Projected Bitcoins Short Term:
Table data source
As of June 20, 2017, Bitcoin has reached the total circulation amount of 16.4 million coins, which is about 78% of the total amount of Bitcoins that there ever will be in existence.
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