Bitcoin Q&A: Lost coins and the deflationary experiment




Do you think it is a problem that Bitcoin private keys can be destroyed, in terms of a store-of-value? Should we re-distribute bitcoin which hasn’t moved for a long period of time? Should we do something about lost coins? Is there potential for centralization through concentration of ownership of bitcoin? Has there ever been a deflationary experiment? Wouldn’t people stop spending altogether?

These questions are from the fourth and fifth sessions of MOOC 11, which took place on February 22nd and March 1st 2019 respectively. If you want early-access to talks and a chance to participate in the monthly live Q&As with Andreas, become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/aantonop

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Andreas M. Antonopoulos is a technologist and serial entrepreneur who has become one of the most well-known and respected figures in bitcoin.

Follow on Twitter: @aantonop https://twitter.com/aantonop
Website: https://antonopoulos.com/

He is the author of two books: “Mastering Bitcoin,” published by O’Reilly Media and considered the best technical guide to bitcoin; “The Internet of Money,” a book about why bitcoin matters.

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MASTERING BITCOIN, 2nd Edition: https://amzn.to/2xcdsY9

Translations of MASTERING BITCOIN: https://bitcoinbook.info/translations-of-mastering-bitcoin/

THE INTERNET OF MONEY, v1: https://amzn.to/2ykmXFs

THE INTERNET OF MONEY, v2: https://amzn.to/2IIG5BJ

Translations of THE INTERNET OF MONEY:
Spanish, ‘Internet del Dinero’ (v1) – https://amzn.to/2yoaTTq
French, ‘L’internet de l’argent’ (v1) – https://www.amazon.fr/Linternet-largent-Andreas-M-Antonopoulos/dp/2856083390
Russian, ‘Интернет денег’ (v1) – https://www.olbuss.ru/catalog/ekonomika-i-biznes/korporativnye-finansy-bankovskoe-delo/internet-deneg
Vietnamese, ‘Internet Của Tiền Tệ’ (v1) – https://alphabooks.vn/khi-tien-len-mang

MASTERING ETHEREUM (Q4): https://amzn.to/2xdxmlK

Music: “Unbounded” by Orfan (https://www.facebook.com/Orfan/)
Outro Graphics: Phneep (http://www.phneep.com/)
Outro Art: Rock Barcellos (http://www.rockincomics.com.br/)

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29 Comments

  1. I swear I watched at least the first two questions and answers in a previous video. Am I the only one that remembers that?

  2. Loss of keys doesnt mean everyone gets a gift. It's still considered in circulation even though there is no access to it. There is no BTC burn where quantity is remeasured.

  3. wow man, your explanation on deflationary currency blew my mind. It was the last hurtle for me, which I never had an answer for until now. Thank you!

  4. We definitely need a better, more fool proof way to self-store our crypto. Up coming custody solutions will probably banks alive and well for the foreseeable future until we do.

  5. how can lost keys a to the value? know one knows those keys are lost therefore can't include them in any calculation. Can you presume a wallet not touched in 50 years is presumably lost? perhaps…

  6. If in the future mining becomes unsustainable or crypto algorithms be obsolete bitcoin can very easily be transferred via LN to another protocol and keep its value with mathematic formula.

  7. Hey great content Andreas! Been watching your videos for a while to learn more about the finer points of crypto. I'm an enthusiast and investor since mid 2017 and it's been cool watching the space mature since then. I continue to inform myself. I wanted to ask if you heard of Datchat and if you had an opinion of it as a project?

  8. I disagree that loosing private keys is gift to all other bitcoin holders. The problem is it is impossible to prove that a private key is lost and there will always be some uncertainty about whether someone has it or will one day have it, so we can’t effectively realize this gift.

  9. The best Bitcoin FUD buster there is, you should write a book solely based on destroying all the FUD out there. Personally I can think of more than a few (mostly annoying) people I'd buy the book for.

  10. “So if the keys to satoshi’s wallet is not currently protected in a way that will allow it to be transferred to a safer technology, then we can count on new tech one day breaking the encryption of satoshi’s wallet.” Truce (edit) and im not saying that it would necessarily be a bad thing by that point but ehhh.

  11. Great video. The topic on inflation is definitely a concern when talking to skeptics. They proudly say inflation causes money to be invested but that is not that true. The majority of people save their money, not invest it because investing in your economy doesn't mean you are automatically a winner, you could lose it all. Saving money will always be needed.

    We do save bitcoin (deflationary currencies) and have an incentive to save more, perhaps, but in reality we don't want money, we want the things money can get us. Even when you are incentivizing to hoard your money, it will be spent eventually for what the person really wants.

    Then you have the deflation on demand which you talked about which IMO is the final nail in the coffin to this argument as to why deflationary currencies are terrible.

  12. Gresham’s Law states that “bad money drives out good.” If Bitcoin is a deflationary, hard currency and therefore good money, shouldn’t we anticipate a preference for Bitcoin as a store of value rather than a medium of exchange? Dollars, Euros, Yen, Rubles, Rupee, & Peso get spent; Bitcoin are saved??

  13. Hi Andreas. Thank you for your explanation on the deflationary economy question. I have a related question: In an economy where BTC is the prevailing currency, any debt will be denominated in BTC and because of the deflationary nature, the principle of the debt will increase over time. If this increase is more than the interest rate of the debt, then debtors will become bankrupt by default. My assumption is that debt is necessary for any economy to finance business and infrastructure investment. I agree that too much debt is a problem (like the current global situation) but an economy with no debt is hamstrung. Your thoughts?

  14. The decimal places for bitcoin is unlimited. So even if bitcoin is 1 trillion per bitcoin, we will just add more decimal places until we get a small enough (per satoshi) value that we can transact in.

    Edit: There is no need to redistribute those inactive coins if your reasoning for it was that the satoshi value would one day be too high to transact in.

Comments are closed.