Bitcoin obituaries, more commonly known as "bitcoin death lists," are an archive of public statements, headlines, articles, tweets, and predictions declaring Bitcoin dead, dying, obsolete, useless, or inevitably heading to zero. These independently tracked lists preserve every notable 'death' pronouncement of Bitcoin from journalists, economists, bankers, politicians, and Bitcoin's most famous critics.
Since 2010, Bitcoin supporters have been keeping links to every published editorial that officially declares Bitcoin dead.
Google Trends shows the public is also susceptible to this trend: this year, global search interest in the phrase "bitcoin dead" reached a perfect score of 100 during the week of January 31 to February 7, 2026. More recently, from May 30 to June 6, the score dropped to 52, and last week, the 'death' talk almost vanished, reaching only 12.
475 'Obituaries,' 21 in 2026
Among the services keeping count, the website bitcoindeaths.com has tallied no fewer than 475 Bitcoin 'obituaries,' and by its calculations, this 'cemetery' is quite costly. If you bought $100 worth of $BTC after each such pronouncement, it would have cost $47,500; that amount is now worth approximately $65,606, yielding a profit of $18,106.
This year has already seen 21 so-called 'obituary messages,' with plenty of 2026 still remaining, and the latest 'death sentence' was handed down by long-time Bitcoin critic and ardent gold proponent Peter Schiff.
Schiff's prediction of Bitcoin's 'death,' voiced on June 16, 2026, sounds like a broken record:
"But for all practical purposes for most investors, it'll be zero... Bitcoin is going to lose over 99% of its market value even if its price is still above zero."
2026 Remains Slightly Below Average
Tallying from 2010 through 2026, no year has 'buried' Bitcoin as harshly as 2017, when critics released a record 93 'obituaries,' and 2018 with 74. On the opposite pole is 2012, which for some reason had zero. Bitcoin's earliest years, from 2010 to 2012, were relatively quiet, with almost no one bothering to write its epitaph.
Over the entire 17-year period, the average number of 'obituaries' is approximately 27.9 per year. Lately, the 'gravediggers' have been less active: 2024 saw just 10 so-called 'death announcements,' and the 2026 figure remains slightly below Bitcoin's long-term average. Apart from Schiff, critics on the 'deceased' list include David Tait, Steve Keen, George Noble, Paul Krugman, and Ulrich Bindseil.
Nobel laureate in economics Paul Krugman stated in December 2024:
"It's not digital gold — it's digital Beanie Babies."
Bitcoin Critics Smell Blood, But History Has Burned Them Before
Bitcoin's 'digital gold' looks much less shiny today: it's trading 50% below its all-time high ($ATH) set just above $126,000 in the first week of October 2025, as Bitcoin continues to struggle through a prolonged bear market. A 50% drop seems minor compared to the crash of $BTC from its 2017 $ATH — the record year for 'obituaries' — to the brutal crash that defined 2018 and 2019.
Predictions of 'death' will keep coming, but will Bitcoin actually die or go to zero? Proponents and even many outside observers doubt it, no matter how many times Krugman, Schiff, and other perennial critics have read Bitcoin its last rites.
