No, I didn't misspell, or change the order of the numbers. I'm also not uninformed, and I'm not crazy either. The total supply of Bitcoins will be 12 million.
Okay, before you call me crazy or stupid, let me explain my thesis to you. I know that only 21 million units of Bitcoin can be produced, and this would be the total number of them. After reaching Bitcoin number 21 million, no more will be created, which is expected to happen in the year 2140. Today we are close to reaching 19 million Bitcoins produced, that is, by 2140 only 2,2 million new Bitcoins will be generated.
A recent study by GlassNode and published in an article entitled "Bitcoin Addresses Holding $ 1 Million Goes 'Parabolic,' 10% of BTC Supply Sits Idle for 10 Years" and published on Bitcoin.com states that data indicates that 10% or 1.85 million BTC out of the 18.5 million in circulation, hasn't moved in over a decade.
The coins could be old school holders who are waiting for much higher prices. Many of the coins could be lost and Satoshi Nakamoto’s infamous stash hasn’t moved in ten years either. Although, out of the 1.85 million sitting for ten years or more, “1.78 million bitcoins have never left their miner address,” says Glassnode.“That is 9.5% of the circulating bitcoin supply,” the onchain researchers tweeted on Friday. “Our analysis shows that 98% of those coins were mined more than 7 years ago, and 94% more than 10 years ago. Most could be lost forever.”.
The study published in the article further states that: "There are only 2,192 addresses with $ 22.7 million (1,000 BTC) to $ 227.5 million (10,000 BTC) today. 105 bitcoin addresses have $ 227.5 million (10,000 BTC) to $ 2.2 billion (100,000 BTC). There is only one bitcoin address in existence today, with between 100,000 to 1 million coins and the address has 141,452 BTC worth over $ 3 billion using today's exchange rates."
When I finished and reflected on the article I had just read, I came to the conclusion that the number of Bitcoins lost is greater than you think. Even today it is impossible to calculate the exact number of Bitcoins that are lost, and I say lost forever ... Bitcoins that will never be recovered.
Imagine that you are in 2010 and started mining Bitcoin, a new digital asset that so far is worthless and that you probably have no expectations of appreciation. An asset that you are only mining, because you found a certain "hype" about it on a blog, forum or website, that you are testing or experimenting to see how it is. If someone told you at the time that this asset would be worth $ 0.01 in the near future, you probably would not agree with that person. If someone told you then that $ 1.00, $ 10.00 or $ 100.00 could arrive you would probably laugh at him. But if someone told you that ten years later this would be worth $ 1000.00, $ 10,000.00 or $ 24,000.00 (price at which we are now) you would probably call that person crazy. It is through this that I want to prove my point.
See, at the beginning of the Bitcoin mining process ten years ago, rare, I believe, were the people who really believed and saw the potential for appreciation in what they were mining. And even the most optimistic, would never imagine today, this asset would have a value above 20k. This lack of, say, appreciation for what they were doing or receiving, caused many miners to forget not only their private keys, but also that they had bitcoins or that they once mined them. How many stories have we heard of people who lost their bitcoins in the past, or who mined them for a while and didn't bother to keep them safe. The article says that at least 1.85 million Bitcoins have been inactive for more than ten years, and that 90% of that total is probably lost. I disagree and go further. In my opinion, most of the supply generated in those first years is lost, and that in the future that number will be close to 40% or 45% of the total supply of bitcoins will be lost or irretrievably lost.
This would bring us close to the total number of available Bitcoins of 12 million. Maybe I am going a little beyond the number that is normally considered when it comes to lost Bitcoins, and as I said, this is just a thesis from my point of view. There is no data or study that proves what I am saying or that affirms the correct number of Bitcoins lost or available. Up to the present moment this is an icon that we will carry for many, many years I believe. But one thing is certain, Bitcoins, regardless of the quantity are lost, the maximum supply available will not be 21 million, which makes the asset scarcer and consequently more valuable and rare.
Therefore, if after reading this you are still in doubt if it pays to buy or open an investment position in Bitcoin now, at your all time high at 24k, I hope that this article and this news will end your doubt.
I hope you enjoyed this article! If you wish, consider leaving a like or sharing a tip with me. Do you also believe that a large part of Bitcoins are lost? Leave your opinion in the comments below.
See you next time!
