[Gradient-Ascent]

Today's analogy is bitcoin... Will all Bitcoin just be lost one day, because all keys get lost?

I am aware that "there are solutions", but are they (really) enough? Isn't "breaking in" required at some point?

Another endgame for Bitcoin is that all Bitcoin are stolen through the one tool which helps with ("unbreakable") encryption: Hacking / social engineering.

Besides that we hab substantial discussions about why PGP isn't really cutting it for use with email (to cumbersome, at one point you lose your private key, recipient struggles to decrypt, etc.).

[artursapek]

More and more Bitcoin is going to be held by custodians, like crypto exchanges, retail trading apps like Robinhood, and even traditional banks. Handling your own Bitcoin keys will end up being a niche cypherpunk thing, like using command-line PGP. It's actually a perfect analogy, because most popular "E2EE" chat apps are also custodial with your keys.

[Gradient-Ascent]

You don't own your bitcoin then (if you are not the only one who has the key) - Elon Musk pointed that out. The custodian owns your Bitcoin (and can run away with them or also lose the key).

[artursapek]

No shit, but the successful custodians are the ones who have insurance on deposits and enough reputation that people are not afraid of them exit scamming. You don’t physically hold your stocks and cash either.

[Gradient-Ascent]

"No shit" - It's a bit over the top to denounce me here as "Mr. Obvious", but funny, so this shall be forgiven to you. Musk is hot and at the forefront and he said it the other day. There is a lot of running away with bitcoins still/currently (Mt. Gox) and they are not insured. Probably the endgame of Bitcoin: All Bitcoin get lost or stolen, but were reimbursed/payed out via an insurance :-D - The full value of all Bitcoin payed by the insurance.