Researchers Estimate Over $40b of Bitcoin is Lost and May Never Be Recovered

Researchers estimate that somewhere between 2-4 million Bitcoins have been lost with a possible value of over $40m

One the many things that are deeply frustrating in life, losing money, for most, would definitely be towards the top of the list. Even if its just a five-pound note that managed to work its way out of your pocket, the feeling is sickening.

So it should be. Unless of course, you are still receiving dividends from the bank of mom and dad, it was your hard-earned cash! You had plans to squander that!

The stratospheric rise of Bitcoin for many has been a boon. We even have our first confirmed Bitcoin billionaires. However, new research has shown that as much as $40b of the crypto-currency may be lost. Possibly forever.

How do you lose a Bitcoin?

Well, put simply, it depends on the means in which you hold them. Although a moderately out-dated concept, many people retain their Bitcoin data on hard drives. If it breaks, you effectively may lose all of your earnings.

Only within the last week, we saw an instance where a reported £75m of Bitcoin is somewhere on a hard drive in a South Wales tip.

The research via Chainalysis, coming via the Independent, shows that following an audit on the currency, at least 2.5 and maybe as many as 3.75 million coins are currently entirely unaccounted for. This effectively means that as much as $40b is unclaimed and may be so for the rest of time.

I should note that this figure does include the reported 1 million coins lost by the original creators of the currency. These were, however, lost long before the currency really had any clout.

Given the rather anonymous nature of crypto-currencies, that doesn’t mean to say that one day someone will not emerge to claim it. At present, however, that money is declared ownerless.

What do you think? Are you one of the mystery Bitcoin owners? If so, can we have some? – Let us know in the comments!