36% Of BTC In Circulation Is Lost, Making Bitcoin Technically More Scarce
In new findings by two research firms – Chainalysis and Diar – data has been made available on the reality of the amount of Bitcoin (BTC) actually available in circulation for the regular guy like you and I. According to coinmarketcap.com, the circulating supply of BTC stands at 17,296,587 at the moment of writing this. The findings go on to state that 36% of this amount is ‘lost, likely lost, or unmined’. Doing the math, this then means 6.226 Million BTC is technically unavailable for purchase or trading to even the Bitcoin whales. The report goes on to state that 22% of the circulating supply is held by speculators, while investors hold a 30% stake in the circulation supply. These values amount to 3.8 Million and 5.189 Million Bitcoin in circulation respectively. Using the above figures, and knowing the hard-cap on the mining of Bitcoin is set at 21 Million, we can declare with some confidence that Bitcoin is technically scarce. This is given the fact that 6.226 Million BTC is technically unavailable. There is also the 3.704 Million BTC that is yet to be mined. We are therefore left with a very small percentage of the digital asset to satisfy the interest of global investors.
