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Bitcoins (the unit, not the currency) can indeed be destroyed by using OP_RETURN. This has been done in the past, and is still being done right now. It is howe
by once_inc 9y ago
Bitcoins (the unit, not the currency) can indeed be destroyed by using OP_RETURN. This has been done in the past, and is still being done right now.
It is however highly unlikely that all 21 million bitcoins will end up in that drain.
Bitcoin can also be sent to an address of which there is no known private key. Future advances/exploits of Elliptic curve cryptography should make those coins recoverable.
In the end, users will probably not even know each other's public keys for everyday spending of bitcoin. They will only check the public keys for large purchases such as houses, cars, etc.
- Retric 9y agoIt's easy to lose private keys which is a far more common issue than you might think. > Future advances/exploits of Elliptic curve cryptography should make those coins recoverable. It's possible for that to be true without also completely destroying bitcoin. But, it's not particularly likely.