As you already know, the maximum amount of Bitcoins there will be is 21 million coins. But we will never see 21 million coins in circulation. In this article, I will tell you how we have lost many Bitcoins in the past. It's most likely that we will never recover them.

Mistake/Ignorance

I.T. worker James Howells, between 20 June and 10 August 2013, accidentally threw away a hard drive containing the private keys to 8,000 Bitcoins. Now it's believed to be in a local landfill, underground with other trash and soil on top of it. He took numerous attempts to recover the drive but failed. Now he hopes A.I. and robot dogs will find it for him one day.

Stefan Thomas, a programmer, allegedly lost his password for a digital wallet containing about 7,002 Bitcoins. As of early 2021, he only has two more attempts.

Unthinkable/(death)

Gerald Cotton, CEO of QuadrigaCX, died unexpectedly in 2018 while on honeymoon with his wife in India. He was the only one who had access to the private keys for the company's wallets. But, there are other theories, though. Some think he faked his death because he lost the private keys himself. Some believe he faked his death and took all the bitcoins.

Hacks/Stolen

You see some people try to become rich fast in unethical ways. But with Bitcoins, you can't just get away with your crimes. After you steal bitcoins and transfer them to your wallet, you get exposed. Anyone can track what you do with them using a blockchain explorer. So, without consequences, it is impossible to use those Bitcoins. So, virtually, they are forever lost.

Technical Reasons

50 Bitcoins rewarded from the genesis block cannot be spent because of its unique technical structure. It's not known whether this was done intentionally or accidentally,

Guys, also remember to take this information with a grain of salt, as people could be lying for various reasons. Either way above incidents are the only major ones recorded on the internet. So, we actually don't know how many Bitcoins have actually been lost.