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8 Real Examples of Lost Bitcoin

1. Stefan Thomas' IronKey Password - Lost access to 7,002 BTC ($750 million) after forgetting the password to his hard drive that only allows 10 password attempts. He's used 8 attempts already.

2. James Howells' Landfill Fortune - Accidentally threw away a hard drive containing 8,000 BTC ($856 million) in 2013. Despite numerous proposals to excavate the landfill, city council has refused.

3. Wired Magazine's Demonstration - Deliberately destroyed keys to 13 BTC ($1.4 million) for an article in 2013, a decision they later regretted.

4. Campbell Simpson's Discarded Drive - Australian tech journalist threw away a hard drive with keys to 1,400 BTC ($150 million) in 2012 when they were worth just $4,000.

5. California Wildfire Loss - Reddit user lost seed phrase for 43 BTC ($4.6 million) when their home burned down in the 2018 wildfires. They had the seed only on paper.

6. DIY Security Failure - Bitcoin user created a "more secure" modified version of their seed phrase using a personal algorithm they later forgot, losing access to 2.5 BTC ($267,500).

7. The Brain Wallet Tragedy - User suffered head trauma and lost access to memorized keys for 250 BTC ($26.8 million).

8. Renovation Disaster - BitcoinTalk forum user had their hidden seed phrase accidentally thrown away during home renovations, losing 15 BTC ($1.6 million).

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Discussion

mike 8mo ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiwDHHcHPh0

unit 8mo ago

Add Luke Dashjr on this list

Jon 8mo ago

Could you make a “lost coins” tracker where you share the story and link it to the lost coin address. If the coins ever move, the coins are removed from the tracker?

Fish-O 7mo ago

So, let’s say this continues to happen, does that make BTC more valuable because that coin will never ever be able to circulate making what is in circulation more scarce?

Satoshi's Plebs 7mo ago

Yes exactly! More scarce = more valuable.

Of course the opposite is also true, for example we discussed in the latest episode what happens if Satoshi resurfaces and starts moving part of his 1 million Bitcoin, the price will naturally fall, but people like us will get some sats at a discount! And naturally the value will recover and keep going up...