Author: Chris Riley 2017-12-11 18:28:03
Published on: 2017-12-11T18:28:03+00:00
The current circulating supply of Bitcoin is estimated to be 12.4 million out of a total of 16.4 million mined, with the remaining 4 million lost due to human error such as losing private keys. However, many argue that this is not necessarily a problem as Bitcoin is divisible up to 100 million and potentially more if needed. Satoshi Nakamoto previously addressed this issue in a forum conversation, stating that lost coins decrease supply, increasing the value of remaining coins. The proposed solution to the issue of dormant addresses is to implement a dead man's switch causing Bitcoins assigned to dormant addresses to expire after a fixed length of time, such as ten years. The miner's reward would then take into account the expired Bitcoins, potentially leading to an increase in rewards if a sufficient number of Bitcoins expire. However, some question the morality of expiring dormant Bitcoins, especially in cases such as Hal Finney, who may have placed his Bitcoins in cold storage before passing away. Furthermore, implementing a dead man's switch could encourage censorship by miners for people attempting to move their coins. Ultimately, discussions about this proposal have taken place in the past and anyone is welcome to fork the Bitcoin code and block chain to convince others to follow the new chain and code.
Updated on: 2023-06-12T23:02:43.356718+00:00