Fifteen Years Since the Disappearance of Bitcoin’s Creator, Satoshi Nakamoto

Satoshi Nakamoto's last forum post was on December 12, 2010.

On December 12, 2010, the creator of the first cryptocurrency, known by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, made his last post on the BitcoinTalk forum.

In his final post, he discussed technical aspects of protecting the network from DoS attacks and introduced the Bitcoin code update version 0.3.19.

“There’s more work to do on DoS, but I’m doing a quick build before venturing into more complex issues, if needed… this is version 0.3.19,” Nakamoto wrote at the time.

Although forum activity ceased, the Bitcoin creator continued private correspondence with developers of the digital gold, including Gavin Andresen, for several months.

In one of his last letters from April 2011, he requested not to be made into a “mysterious figure.” To another correspondent, he mentioned having “moved on to other things.”

Many researchers associate Nakamoto’s final departure with Andresen’s public announcement of a presentation at the CIA headquarters. The potential attention from U.S. intelligence agencies could have been a decisive factor for someone who valued anonymity.

The identity of Bitcoin’s creator remains a mystery. One of the main intrigues in recent years was the release of an HBO film titled Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery. Its creators claimed to have discovered who is behind Nakamoto’s mask.

They ultimately named Peter Todd, who promptly denied such speculation.

Legacy

In the decade and a half since Nakamoto’s disappearance, Bitcoin has transformed from an experimental protocol into a global financial asset with a market capitalization of $1.8 trillion.

At the time of writing, the first cryptocurrency is trading around $92,100. The latest all-time high was recorded at $126,080 in October 2025.

Today, digital gold is popular among Wall Street giants. A pivotal event was the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. in January 2024. Since then, these instruments have attracted $57.8 billion, accumulating 6.5% of the total coin supply.

More than 100 public companies have added the asset to their reserves. Since January 2023, these organizations have increased their Bitcoin exposure by 448%. The volume of coins on their balance sheets has grown from 197,000 BTC to 1.08 million BTC.

The Bitcoin infrastructure also continues to evolve actively. The network has seen the emergence of decentralized finance and even second-layer solutions like Lightning Network and Stacks.

In December, a statue of Nakamoto was installed at the New York Stock Exchange building. It was created by Italian artist Valentina Picozzi.