Brits Could Be Sitting On Tens Of Billions In Unaccounted Bitcoin

Forgetful Brits are being urged to dig out their old hard drives after a study found there may be up to £34 billion in unaccounted Bitcoin owned by UK residents.

Recent estimates put the amount of unaccounted Bitcoin globally at three to four million BTC – around 15-20% of the total supply. 

Data from the World Population Review suggests the UK owns approximately 18% of the world’s Cryptocurrency, with Bitcoin by far the most popular.

We can therefore estimate that somewhere between 540,000 and 720,000 BTC is unaccounted for in the UK.

With the current exchange rate of 1BTC = £48,118.92, there are potentially tens of billions in lost Bitcoin missing from the British economy.

The figures above give us an approximated value of £25 billion to £34 billion in missing Bitcoin in the UK alone. 

As the cost of living continues to rise, some Brits may be sitting on a small fortune.

Cryptocurrency analyst David Bartram said: “With a large portion of the world’s Bitcoin supply owned by UK residents, there is undoubtedly a huge amount of money unaccounted for.

“While some may never be recovered, it’s certainly worth it for people to check through old hardware and try to remember passwords if they have ever owned Bitcoin.

“Aside from Bitcoin, the total market cap of all global cryptocurrency stands at around £1.8 trillion, so the overall value of all missing crypto is likely far higher, and we may never know just how much is out there.”

Where Is All The Unaccounted Bitcoin In The UK?

When we talk about ‘unaccounted’ Bitcoin, we are typically referring to BTC that is lost or inaccessible for a number of reasons.

Forgotten private passkeys, destroyed hardware and other mishaps can leave people unable to access their Bitcoin wallets.

People may also have sent BTC to inaccessible addresses, and are now unable to recover their currency.

Unclaimed Satoshi Nakamoto Wallets Still Out There

Another large volume of Bitcoin exists in wallets associated with the cryptocurrency’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. 

Approximately one million BTC is held in such wallets, which have never been accessed.

With a total of 21 million Bitcoin in the world, this accounts for 4.8% of all BTC.

One Brit Who’s Still Desperately Searching

Last year, 38-year-old James Howles, from Newport, made headlines when claiming he had lost £227 million worth of Bitcoin after mistakenly discarding a hard drive.

Reportedly worth £4 million when he lost it in 2013, its value has since skyrocketed, with Howles pledging to donate around £50 million to local charities and community projects if he recovers the hard drive.

The IT engineer has been pleading with Newport council to let him look through their landfill site in hope of finding his missing fortune. But for more than ten years, the council has refused to cooperate. 

It said: “The council has told Mr Howells multiple times that excavation is not possible under our environmental permit, and that work of that nature would have a huge negative environmental impact on the surrounding area.”