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I think this is a good point. We often hear of lost coins when people actually mean lost keys.
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I wish more charts would distinguish "provably burned coins" vs "maybe lost coins".
Yes is a good point.
Also OP said:
is that number even verifiable?
I think is just an estimation. Nobody knows exactly how many BTC are not "in good hands" anymore.
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In my opinion, forgetting a private key does not make the BTC lost. Its still there on the timechain ready for anyone to move it if they guess/remember the private key.
However, there are some BTC which are provably lost. For example:
When a miner mines a block, the protocol allows that miner to reward themselves newly created BTC. Sometimes a miner does not claim the full amount that the protocol would allow them. Suppose a miner could create 50 BTC, but they messed up their block template and only gave themselves 5 BTC. Those missing 45 BTC are gone for good, permanently reducing max the supply of BTC that will ever exist.
Anyone can make a chart and claim the "lost" BTC is anything they want (without sources). I wish more charts would distinguish "provably burned coins" vs "maybe lost coins".