Blockchain intelligence firm, Chainalysis, recently gave insight into the value of Bitcoins lost forever, revealing that about 3.7 million Bitcoin worth about $66.5 billion is lost forever and will remain unavailable to any buyer.
The report also discussed why the bullish run is far different from the crypto asset bubble seen in 2017.
READ: Grayscale: World’s biggest Crypto hedge fund holds $8.35 billion worth of Bitcoin
From high-profile investors like hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones, who compared buying Bitcoin to investing early in Apple or Google, to corporations like Square, which invested $50 million or 1% of its total assets in Bitcoin, mainstream companies, and financial institutions are turning to Bitcoin.
The institutional move into cryptocurrency appears to be driven by a desire to hedge against macroeconomic uncertainty, which of course hasn’t been in short supply this year.
READ: Crypto hedge fund, Polychain capital buys $8.2 million worth of yearn.finance
Jones himself put it well, saying, “Back in March and April, it became really apparent, given the monetary policy that was being pursued by the Fed, the incredible quantitative easing they were doing and other central banks were doing, that we were in an unprecedented time…one had to begin to think about how you defend yourself against inflation.”
READ: Rich Bitcoin investor moved $175 million worth of BTC for just $0.84
What this means
Such macro, is partly responsible for the bullish run prevailing in the world’s flagship crypto market, taking into consideration that an estimated value of 77% of the 14.8 million has been locked up for more than five years. This means that there is just 3.4 million Bitcoin available for institutional and retail investors rushing to buy the prized crypto asset.
READ: Airbnb says Crypto, Blockchain key to future success
What you should know
A few months ago, Nairametrics revealed how about 4 million BTC (worth some $30 billion at current prices) was lost as a result of the owners dying, and their next of kin not having access to such BTC wallets.
READ: Germany’s biggest bank says more people now prefer Bitcoin over gold
Bottom Line
As BTCs and cryptos become more prominent in daily activities, the volume of BTC being lost forever is likely to surge.
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