The first cryptocurrency has existed for more than 16 years, and its dollar price recently touched six figures\u2014once fanciful. Yet the identity of bitcoin\u2019s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, remains a mystery.<\/p>\n
Satoshi\u2019s last public message<\/a> dates to December 2010; his known wallets fell inactive then, too. The chances of unmasking him may seem close to zero, but new theories continue to surface.<\/p>\n Does the crypto community even need to know? With the creator of the eponymous parsers for bitcoin\u2019s blockchain, BTCparser, we explore why an anonymous developer so fascinates conspiracists\u2014and what unmasking the secret could set in motion.<\/p>\n On January 3rd 2009 Satoshi launched bitcoin\u2019s mainnet and mined the genesis block, receiving 50 BTC. It is thought that, in the blockchain\u2019s infancy, the creator kept participating as a miner.<\/p>\n Although the exact number of coins mined by the \u201cfather of the first cryptocurrency\u201d is unknown, researchers estimate that wallets linked to him hold about 1.1m BTC. The conclusion rests on granular analysis of early on-chain activity that revealed the so\u2011called \u201cPatoshi pattern\u201d\u2014some 22,000 of the first blocks were mined under this model.<\/p>\n At current prices, Satoshi\u2019s stash is worth roughly $94.5bn. Recently, issuers of American BTC ETFs surpassed<\/a> the creator of digital gold by the bitcoins they have accumulated, but corporate reserves still pale beside the coins in the hands of one person\u2014or, perhaps, a group.<\/p>\n With a new bull cycle, general interest in digital assets has risen\u2014and with it curiosity about the creator of the first cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n 2024 began with sending 26.9 BTC<\/a> to one of Satoshi\u2019s wallets; Binance was named as the source of most of the funds.<\/p>\n The riddle of that odd transaction remains unsolved. In March, however, a British court drew a line under the case of the \u201cpseudo\u2011Satoshi\u201d Craig Wright, ruling<\/a> that he is not bitcoin\u2019s creator. Soon after, another likely impostor emerged\u2014Steven Mulla<\/a>.<\/p>\n The year\u2019s marquee theme release was Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery from HBO, by Cullen Hoback. It named Peter Todd as bitcoin\u2019s lead developer; he later repeatedly denied<\/a> the claims and complained<\/a> about threats to his safety.<\/p>\n In February 2025 a suggestion emerged<\/a> that the pseudonym Satoshi might hide Jack Dorsey, co\u2011founder of Twitter (now X) and Square (Block).<\/p>\n \u201cThere have been many attempts to reveal Satoshi Nakamoto\u2019s identity; we already have several quite plausible versions. At the same time, the HBO version didn\u2019t appeal to me personally\u2014lots of noise and, in the end, a damp squib. I am sure new versions will appear in the foreseeable future. And why such a wide resonance? We like riddles; we are interested in Satoshi\u2019s genius; we are curious\u2014what kind of HODLer he is,\u201d BTCparser sums up.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The researcher has his own theory: Satoshi did not disappear but turned into a \u201cmega\u2011whale\u201d. To avoid unwanted attention, bitcoin\u2019s creator abandoned old wallets and anonymously moves funds mined after 2010.<\/p>\n Since 2019 BTCparser has tracked addresses selected by special criteria and found that 24,000 BTC have been moved from \u201cawakened\u201d wallets attributed to the putative Satoshi.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe that Satoshi is alive; he mined his bitcoins. Then he left the public arena, changed equipment, and continued mining assets on it. Perhaps the whale from 2012 that wakes batches of bitcoins (20 addresses of 50 BTC) is our Satoshi or someone from his group. And he has quite a lot of those coins from 2012 and later. Therefore, waking the first wallets and causing panic makes no sense for him,\u201d BTCparser said.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Read more about the \u201cmega\u2011whale\u201d theory in our article<\/a> or on the forum BTCparser<\/a>.<\/p>\n Satoshi\u2019s identity has become a cult of sorts for the crypto community, and his anonymity fits the project\u2019s intent perfectly\u2014so BTCparser explains the broad interest in bitcoin\u2019s creator. More generally, human curiosity and a penchant for myth\u2011making do the rest.<\/p>\n According to BTCparser, the interested public falls into camps with different worries. Traders and investors want to know how reliable Satoshi is as a HODLer:<\/p>\n \u201cMeaning, what is the probability that his million bitcoins will not be used at some point to crash the price?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n As BTCparser explained, many fear that Satoshi might suddenly decide to \u201cslam the whole stash into the market\u201d. But the industry now has many players\u2014and many who like bitcoin\u2019s original ideas. Everything, therefore, depends on the market\u2019s ability to \u201cswallow this mega\u2011order\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThis risk is no longer a risk at all, especially for those who are on spot and trade with pending orders. Such a powerful dump will simply give some traders a chance to buy cheaply. And it is by no means certain that the price will drop very seriously,\u201d the expert clarified.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n There are also frequent worries about a potential hack of \u201cabandoned\u201d bitcoin wallets. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino suggested<\/a> that, in future, quantum computers\u2019 power could be enough to crack legacy\u2011format addresses.<\/p>\n He said that by then users would have moved to upgraded wallets with quantum protection, but old inactive addresses would be vulnerable. Ardoino also mentioned a hypothetical ability to \u201cprocess and freeze\u201d Satoshi\u2019s coins for safety.<\/p>\n On the other side are developers and crypto\u2011enthusiasts, like BTCparser himself. They want to know who this smart person is, what he is doing now, and whether he has other projects.<\/p>\n \u201cPerhaps for many it would be better if Satoshi were dead and his coins irretrievably lost. But personally I would not want such an outcome. On the contrary, I want such a brilliant person to be alive, wealthy, and directing his resources to create something useful or new,\u201d the researcher added.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nA quick refresher<\/h2>\n
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The central mystery of modern cryptography<\/h2>\n
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Overblown expectations<\/h2>\n