#Gate最新储备金104.53亿美元创安全新标杆  30% of Bitcoins Could Be Obsolete by 2035 – Why It Matters

17% of BTC is officially considered “obsolete Bitcoin,” meaning it hasn’t moved in at least a decade. These assets are worth around $360 billion.

Alarmingly, more and more BTC is becoming obsolete every day, and new miners can’t replace it, he claims. Between this trend and institutional buyouts, Bitcoin’s ability to function as a circulating currency could be in jeopardy.

Is Obsolete Bitcoin Taking Over?

Thanks to the HODLing trend, Bitcoin has no shortage of whales who have held onto their holdings for years.

However, the cryptocurrency industry has been around for over 15 years now, and the number of “old” tokens can only grow. One company has conducted a study on old Bitcoin, which has reached a number of important conclusions:

As a leading Bitcoin ETF issuer, it naturally has a strong interest in conducting this research. On the surface, the claim that 17% of all Bitcoins are old seems quite remarkable.

The firm estimates that there are 3.4 million BTC in this category, representing a value of more than $360 billion. However, its findings regarding mining may be even more significant:

Specifically, the firm claimed that more and more Bitcoin is becoming obsolete and new tokens are being mined every day. The mining industry is becoming less profitable, and ETF issuers are buying far more BTC than miners can produce.

It found that 566 tokens are becoming obsolete per day, but only 450 new tokens are replacing them.

Why Is the Old ‘Lost’ Supply a Big Concern?

One major concern is that some of the old supply is effectively lost, such as through discarded private keys or inaccessible wallets. On-chain data suggests that around 20% of all Bitcoin mined is permanently lost.

In addition, more than 1.8 million Bitcoins tied to Satoshi Nakamoto have been dormant for over a decade. When coins are truly lost, the effective circulating supply decreases, changing supply-demand dynamics.

A decreasing active supply can increase price volatility. As Bitcoin’s supply limit approaches, each removal from active circulation further tightens the available supply.

Furthermore, the risk of concentration increases when fewer coins remain active. Whales can more easily move the market when active supply decreases.