NY based Chainalysis, an analytics firm, has published a study stating nearly 4 million bitcoins are lost forever.
The study points to wallets that were created, and miners, from the days when bitcoin was only worth pennies or low dollar amounts.
Years ago when people had 20 bitcoins in a wallet and they were worth a total $10 - people weren't so concerned with keeping their wallet/key saved and safe.
Chainalysis says the years of 2009-2010 are when the vast majority of the coins were lost.
But even more shocking, while the early nearly worthless bitcoins were lost at a percentage between 15%-20% - they estimate up to 2% loss rate for 2017.
That's another $2 Billion worth of lost coins this year alone.
Still, that's a dramaticly lower percentage than years ago, and is expected to get even lower as the value of bitcoin rises and people learn the importance of carefully guarding their wallet & key.
Author: Ross Davis
San Francisco News Desk
