Bitcoins lost due to careless self-storage exceed the amount lost on exchanges, according to a report from analytics company River.
River estimates that cryptocurrency investors have lost about 1,6 million bitcoins, currently valued at more than $1,5 billion, due to improper storage. That's more than the 1,2 million BTC (about $1,1 billion) that customers lost after the Mt.Gox hack and FTX bankruptcy.
Volumes of lost bitcoins
In their study, River analysts examined data from dormant wallets, excluding wallets associated with the founder of Bitcoin Satoshi Nakamoto: According to experts, most of the lost coins are stored in crypto wallets that have not been used for more than ten years.
Dormant Bitcoin Wallets
According to River analysts, the figure of 1,6 million lost bitcoins is more realistic than previous studies. Thus, according to a report by the analytical company Chainalysis for 2020, about 3,7 million BTC disappeared without a trace. This is almost 20% of the total supply of the flagship cryptocurrency. All these assets have not been moved for at least 5 years and may never be moved again.
