Estimating the Quantum of Bitcoins Forever Lost to Circulation

• On-chain data vendor IntoTheBlock estimates approximately 29% of the circulating BTC to have been dormant for the last five years, suggesting they may be permanently lost.
• The crypto market leader Bitcoin experienced a dip to $30,133, even amidst news that buoyed the broader cryptocurrency market.

IntoTheBlock, a leading on-chain data provider, has presented an intriguing analysis on the state of Bitcoin’s circulating supply. The data divulges an estimation of Bitcoins, hinting at the possibility of a significant fraction being lost forever.

Delving Into Dormant Bitcoins

Based on their recent tweet, IntoTheBlock postulates that approximately 29% of the current Bitcoin circulation has remained inactive over the past five years. This long-term dormancy implies a substantial proportion of these Bitcoins might be irretrievably lost.

Their assertions coincide with the recent data shared by Glassnode, another esteemed data analytics firm. Glassnode’s statistics on “hodled or lost Bitcoins” mirrors the data by IntoTheBlock, showing a tally of 7,781,224.168 BTC.

On Thursday, July 13, Bitcoin, the apex cryptocurrency, witnessed a surge of approximately 3.5%, soaring to the level of $31,641. This surge was set against the backdrop of bullish news for the entire crypto industry. The announcement by Judge Analisa Torres that Ripple did not violate U.S. securities law by selling XRP on public crypto trading platforms fueled the uptrend.

On the contrary, the court deemed Ripple’s sales of XRP to financial institutions as securities sales. This partial victory triggered a price surge in XRP of over 70%, influencing the entire crypto market, including Bitcoin, to follow suit.

Numerous crypto exchanges that had initially delisted XRP in the wake of the Ripple-SEC lawsuit in December 2020, including Coinbase and Binance US, are now re-listing it, stirring the market further.

However, despite the crypto industry’s buoyant news, Bitcoin experienced a setback the following day. The cryptocurrency’s value fell by 4.78%, plummeting to the $30,133 zone. At the time of this report, Bitcoin is trading at $30,092 on the Bitstamp exchange.

This analysis by IntoTheBlock not only sheds light on the possible amount of Bitcoin permanently lost but also underscores the impact such factors can have on the overall dynamics of the cryptocurrency market.