Binance founder Changpeng Zhao has reignited the debate over Bitcoin's true scarcity, suggesting the amount of BTC actually available to traders may be significantly lower than widely assumed.
In a post published on August 15, 2026, CZ pointed out that Bitcoin is a deflationary asset and argued that more than 20.07 million BTC have already been mined out of the 21 million maximum supply. That leaves only about 4.4% of Bitcoin's total supply yet to be produced, with the next halving event drawing closer.
However, CZ said the effective circulating supply could be even smaller. He estimated that between 10% and 20% of mined Bitcoin may be lost, stuck, or permanently unrecoverable. These lost coins include funds held in wallets whose private keys have been lost or are otherwise inaccessible.
As a result, he warned that the number of Bitcoin that can actually be bought, sold, or moved by traders could be substantially lower than the total number of mined coins, reinforcing Bitcoin's scarcity narrative.
The comments come amid broader market attention on Bitcoin's fixed supply and upcoming halving dynamics.
