....Because an OP_RETURN script cannot be unlocked, and so these coins cannot be spent. Coins in burn addresses can be unlocked by one of the correct private keys, it is just that no one knows what those private keys are.
I know I have said this before but that is not 100% true / proven.
With some of these addresses:
We *assume* that due to the math that nobody has the address.
We can prove that to generate the address through brute force cannot be done before the sun goes nova and destroys the Earth.
We CANNOT prove that nobody has it.
You can't prove a negative. And there is always the 2^160 to 1 chance (close enough to zero to be zero but still not zero)that someone has one of them.
Sorry it's just one of those things that I think should be out there.
-Dave