Approximately 1.8 million crypto addresses that were inactive for over a decade hold 1,798,681 BTC. The estimated value of “lost” BTC is currently ~$121 billion.
About 8.5% of the total BTC can be considered “lost.” The Fortune publication citing Chainalysis data reports this. About 1.8 million wallets never showed any activity for ten years or more.
As of mid-March 2024, inactive wallets stored 1,798,681 BTC, the current value of which, at the time of writing, is estimated at $121 billion. A little more than 12,000 wallets clearly belonged to Bitcoin miners of the Satoshi era because each of them stored exactly 50 BTC — the amount of remuneration for the block at that time. The report also notes that 99% of the “lost” wallets contain less than 50 BTC.
The authors of the material report that “lost” wallets are considered nominal, as sometimes they begin to show activity after a long time. For example, on May 6, 687 BTC (~$43.9 million) were transferred from a Bitcoin wallet that hadn’t been active for almost 14 years. And this isn’t an isolated case. According to Fortune, since 2018, the number of “lost” coins decreased by 758,938 BTC.
This year, BTC set a new ATH. Moreover, Bitcoin surpassed gold in scarcity level amid the fourth halving, which took place on the Bitcoin network on April 20.
