Satoshi Nakamoto: The Transformation into a ‘Mega Whale’ — A Theory by BTCparser

Satoshi Nakamoto avoids using old wallets and coins to steer clear of unwanted attention. Since 2010, he has been moving anonymously mined funds. This hypothesis was put forward on the BTCparser project website.

“My theory focuses on money, not personalities, leading me to think that the mysterious mega whale of 2010 might be Satoshi himself or a member of [his] Satoshi organization,” the author noted.

According to the theory, after withdrawing from the public eye, the creator of the first cryptocurrency began anonymously mining bitcoin, amassing a significant fortune. In 2010, he created numerous wallets, each containing 50 BTC.

Since then, the programmer has used these funds, gradually “awakening” them from a long dormancy. The original 2009 wallets, associated with Satoshi’s online persona, were left untouched for privacy reasons.

The author compiled a list of Satoshi’s presumed wallets based on a set of criteria:

• all coins were mined shortly after bitcoin’s launch but after Satoshi’s disappearance;
• each wallet held exactly 50 BTC, with no other transactions recorded until “awakening”;
• funds were consolidated into a P2SH format address (commonly used as escrow) and sent in equal parts to several bech32 addresses.

Since 2019, the researcher has monitored selected addresses and found that 24,000 BTC have been withdrawn from the “awakened” wallets of the presumed Satoshi during this period.

The first presumed cash-out occurred in November 2019. The latest, on November 15, 2024, involved “awakening” 2,000 BTC across 40 wallets, valued at approximately $176 million.

The author believes that Coinbase is likely aware of the identity of the 2010 “mega whale,” as coins from the dormant addresses ended up on this platform.

Programmer Peter Todd continues to refute the conclusions of an HBO documentary that named him as the creator of bitcoin.