Crypto Billionaire Changpeng Zhao Estimates 2-4 Million Bitcoin Gone Forever, Calls BTC a 'Deflationary Asset'

Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao estimated on Saturday that 10–20% of all Bitcoin that have already been mined are effectively gone forever.Permanetly Lost BTC?CZ noted in an X post that 20.07 million BTC have already been mined, with only 4.4% of the remaining supply remaining to enter circulation.“I’d estimate 10-20% of existing Bitcoins are lost/stuck/unrecoverable,” he added, which translates to roughly 2–4 million BTC.Given that Bitcoin’s total supply is capped and the usable supply continues to decrease as coins are permanently lost, CZ deemed Bitcoin a “deflationary asset.”Bitcoin surpassed 20.07 million coins mined as of August 2026, leaving only 4.4% more supply.I'd estimate 10-20% of existing bitcoins are lost/stuck/unrecoverable. It's a deflationary asset. Read Also: Satoshi’s BTC Also Inaccessible?CZ’s figures were largely in line with other analysts. BitGo estimates 2.3–4 million BTC, or about 11–18% of the 21 million supply cap.This includes Satoshi Nakamoto’s , which are technically dormant rather than confirmed lost.Bitcoin can become inaccessible in several ways, such as when private keys or passwords are lost, or when someone dies without leaving seed phrases or recovery instructions for their heirs.Buy and HODL L1s, Says Raoul PalMacro investor Raoul Pal, meanwhile, urged investors on X to buy and hold a small number of high-quality Layer 1 blockchains that capture real economic activity.“The people trying to be clever and trade this cycle are the ones who’ll eventually blow this up,” the Real Vision CEO saidPal said that banks and asset managers are shifting products onto blockchain rails, which are also becoming central to the next phase of the internet involving AI agents.“Liquidity is flowing, the Clarity Act is coming and the geopolitical noise looks like it might finally settle,” he added.Price Action: At the time of writing, BTC was exchanging hands at $63,541, up 0.86% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro. Read Also: Photo: Hi my name is Jacco on Shutterstock.com