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They are lost forever if you do not back up your bitcoin wallet.

Also, it's impossible to distinguish between a hoarded bitcoin or a lost bitcoin. But if it is lost, it effectively leave the money supply forever.

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I was wondering about this myself. There's a fixed total supply of bitcoins, and a non-zero rate of loss can be expected - this doesn't seem like a good long-term combination.

The Bitcoin protocol allows for 8 decimals worth of divisibility, meaning that there are actually 2.1E16 or 21 quadrillion "units" (aka "Satoshi's") available.

And the divisibility can be extended. The 8 decimals are largely just because the current client(s) only understand it to that degree.

It sounds like a few good "money burning" viruses and you would double the value of bitcoins by reducing supply. Back up your wallet!

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