I was thinking about how great bitcoin is vs combatting inflation but what about deflation?
Say bitcoin gets lost or if there was a malicious intent of destroying / hoarding bitcoin, are there any mechanics within bitcoin that address this?
Am curious but this is one of the largest problems i could think of if btc were ever widely adapted
To me, Bitcoin does not have a deflation problem because it is not a fiat. In fact, it is used as a medium to make normal currency transactions. Its supply is consistent, and hoarding it does not really help until its value is converted to fiat. The issue does not boil down on the amount of Bitcoins owned but its actual value when converted to fiat.
Bitcoins only get lost when owners mistakably divulge or disclose the details of their Bitcoin wallet. Thus, the mistake can only be attributed to the latter. However, there was an instance when the owner's software was hacked thereby the Bitcoin wallet suffered the same fate -- i.e. losing all Bitcoins at once.