A new data by Coinmetrics revealed that the “untouched bitcoins” have reached an all-time high which quickly indicates “Bitcoin is booming as a store of value.”
21% of Bitcoins found Untouched
Untouched bitcoin refers to the amount of bitcoin that have not been transferred/moved for at least five years. According to the latest report, almost 4,000,000 BTCs are untouched for more than 5 years. To be more specific, 3,847,857 BTC held in a single address haven’t been moved for at least five years which reached all-time-high. It comes into 21.6 percent of the total BTC supply of 21 million.
Almost 4,000,000 #Bitcoins untouched for more than 5 years. Most likely lost. Something to consider. pic.twitter.com/RFen1PUroD
— Crypto Rand (@crypto_rand) July 24, 2019
Coinmetrics claims that such untouched bitcoins are rising year over year which suggests “Bitcoin is increasingly becoming a store of value” in contrast to a medium of exchange. The report also remarks that “untouched supply tends to peak towards the bottom of a price trough, and vice versa.
“This potentially signals that BTC is increasingly becoming a store of value, as opposed to a medium of exchange.”
It’s unclear whether these untouched bitcoins are lost, sent to wrong accounts, forgotten accounts but such bitcoins are reportedly rising every year. These lost BTCs are eventually affecting the BTC’s available supply which might result in investors fighting over a smaller supply of available bitcoins. Concerning what happens with these coins, a founding partner at Adamant Capital, Tuur Demeester argues that “these are most likely lost”.
“5 years without updating your cold storage method is a long time in Bitcoin. Imo most of these coins are likely lost.”
I'm not so sure… 5 years without updating your cold storage method is a long time in Bitcoin. Imo most of these coins are likely lost. pic.twitter.com/lJmEOiPvY3
— Tuur Demeester (@TuurDemeester) July 23, 2019
Is Bitcoin becoming a Store of Value?
It’s just an uncertainty to assume these coins are lost, however, according to Coinmetrics, the 180-day, 1 year, and 2-year charts of “untouched bitcoin” is on its increasing graph. These metrics again points out that few bitcoiners are buying it and holding for the long term.
The reports come in a wake of leaders calling Bitcoin as a store of value – as such, Jerome Powell who is the chairman of the Federal Reserve talked about Bitcoin in an open hearing session in Washington D.C – he referred Bitcoin with gold and stated that it is a store of value just like Gold. Besides, store of value, Chamath Palihapitiya who is a former Facebook executive called Bitcoin as a perfect hedge against the traditional financial infrastructure.
Furthermore, Jerome Powell, Federal Reserve Chairman quickly embraced the existence of Bitcoin and stated that;
“Bitcoin is a good example. Really almost no one uses bitcoin for payments — they use it as an alternative to gold. It’s a store of value, a speculative store of value, like gold.”
Disclaimer: The presented information is subjected to market condition and may include the very own opinion of the author. Please do your ‘very own’ market research before making any investment in cryptocurrencies. Neither the writer nor the publication (TronWeekly.com) holds any responsibility for your financial loss.
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