The unsolved mystery of Satoshi Nakamoto's fortune: 16 years after his disappearance, where is the creator of Bitcoin?

April 5, 2025, marked a symbolic milestone: the supposed 50th anniversary of Satoshi Nakamoto, the enigmatic architect of Bitcoin. Yet, it is less about the age of the mysterious creator than about his colossal fortune that cryptographers and blockchain analysts focus their attention. Since his departure from the public sphere in 2011, one of the largest fortunes ever accumulated—estimated between $63.8 billion and $93.5 billion—remains frozen, intact, without movement. This prolonged immobility of Satoshi Nakamoto’s wallet raises fascinating questions: Is Nakamoto still alive? Has he lost access to his private keys? Or is it a deliberate absence, a conscious renunciation of wealth embodying the very principles of Bitcoin?

This article explores the mystery of one of the world’s greatest fortunes—one that has remained inactive for over 15 years.

Table of Contents

• Satoshi Nakamoto at 50: the zero point of a revolution
• The origins of Bitcoin: when Nakamoto changed the world
• The untouched fortune: 750,000 to 1,100,000 BTC sleeping
• Who is behind Nakamoto? The most serious theories
• Why so much unexplored wealth? Hypotheses and speculations
• The cultural impact of an absence: from HBO to popular mythology
• Conclusion

Satoshi Nakamoto at 50: the zero point of a revolution

According to his profile on the P2P Foundation, Satoshi Nakamoto was born on April 5, 1975, which would make him a fifty-something in 2025. However, cryptocurrency experts have long suspected that this date conceals more symbolic meaning than a real biography.

On April 5, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 6102, prohibiting American citizens from owning gold. Forty-two years later, in 1975, this ban was lifted. By choosing these two dates—1933 and 1975—Nakamoto would have embedded in his supposed birth date a statement of principle: Bitcoin as a digital alternative to gold, escaping government control. It’s a subtle libertarian signature, engraved in his creator’s public history.

However, linguistic analysts and programming experts estimate that Nakamoto is probably several years older than 50. His systematic use of two spaces after periods—an old typing habit from before the 1990s—suggests a man trained on mechanical typewriters. His code employs conventions from the mid-1990s (Microsoft Hungarian notation, classes starting with “C”). These technical clues lead to the hypothesis that Nakamoto would be between 60 and 70 in 2025—but no one can say for sure.

The origins of Bitcoin: when Nakamoto changed the world

On October 31, 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto posted a 9-page document titled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” on a cryptography mailing list. This seemingly simple text contained a revolutionary innovation: the first viable solution to the double-spending problem in digital currency, without relying on a central authority.

Nakamoto did not present himself as a genius. His messages on forums were measured, technical, sometimes even frustrating for those seeking a clarified philosophy. In January 2009, he mined the Genesis block of Bitcoin—the zero block of a chain that would transform global finance. This block contained a quote from The Times: “Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.” An era-defining message, but also a tribute to the urgency of an alternative to the collapsing traditional banking system.

Nakamoto coded and improved Bitcoin until December 2010, contributing over 500 messages and thousands of lines of code. His last verified communication dates from April 2011. An email sent to developer Gavin Andresen: “I would prefer you not to keep talking about me as a mysterious and shadowy figure; the press just turns it into a pirate currency story.” Shortly after, he handed over control of the project to Andresen and disappeared from the public surface—never to reappear.

The untouched fortune: 750,000 to 1,100,000 BTC sleeping

Here lies the central enigma of Bitcoin in 2025: Satoshi Nakamoto’s fortune remains one of the strangest ever accumulated. By analyzing early mining patterns, researcher Sergio Demian Lerner identified what he calls the “Patoshi Pattern”—a statistical signature that likely indicates which blocks Nakamoto mined in the first year.

The result: Nakamoto controls approximately 750,000 to 1,100,000 BTC.

As of April 2025, with Bitcoin’s price hovering around $85,000 (current data indicates $90.65K in January 2026), Nakamoto’s fortune fluctuates between $63.8 billion and $93.5 billion. This level of wealth would place him in the top 20 richest people in the world—a fortune never spent, never used, never even touched for over 15 years.

It is this inaction that fascinates and intrigues. Nakamoto’s mining addresses have shown no movement since 2011. Not a single satoshi (the smallest Bitcoin unit) has been moved. Not even a test transaction. Not even a transfer to a new address for security reasons.

The Genesis block address—containing the initial 50 BTC, officially unspendable—has received over 100 BTC in donations from admirers over the years. These donations, these tributes, freeze Nakamoto’s silence in time.

Who is behind Nakamoto? The most serious theories

After 16 years of investigation, no definitive identification. But serious candidates have emerged.

Hal Finney (1956-2014): Visionary cryptographer, first contributor to Bitcoin, recipient of the very first Bitcoin transaction. Finney had the cryptographic skills needed. He lived in California, near another lead: Dorian Nakamoto, a Japanese-American engineer with the same name. Stylometric analyses, geographic proximity—everything seemed to converge. Yet, Finney denied being Nakamoto before his death from ALS in 2014.

Nick Szabo: Computer scientist who conceptualized “bit gold”—a direct precursor to Bitcoin—in 1998. Linguistic analyses reveal a striking similarity between his English and Nakamoto’s. Szabo is well-versed in monetary theory and advanced cryptography. He has consistently denied: “You’re mistaken in doxing me as Satoshi, but I’m used to it.”

Adam Back: Creator of Hashcash, the proof-of-work system directly cited in Nakamoto’s white paper. Back collaborated with Nakamoto from the start. His technical skills match. Some analysts see him as the main suspect. Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano, even named him as the most probable candidate.

Craig Wright: Australian computer scientist who publicly claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, even filing a copyright on the white paper in the US. In March 2024, the UK High Court ruled: Judge James Mellor declared unequivocally that “Dr. Wright is not the author of the Bitcoin white paper” and “is not the person who adopted Satoshi Nakamoto.” Wright’s provided documents? Confirmed forgeries.

Peter Todd: Former Bitcoin developer targeted by a 2024 HBO documentary (Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery) as a potential Nakamoto. Arguments: chat messages, use of Canadian English, technical comments on Nakamoto’s latest posts. Todd dismissed these as “ridiculous” and “far-fetched.”

Other names floating in hypotheses include: Len Sassaman (cryptographer whose memorial was encoded in the blockchain after his death in 2011), Paul Le Roux (criminal programmer and cartel boss), or even a collective of several of the above figures.

The truth? Nobody knows.

Why so much unexplored wealth? Hypotheses and speculations

The inactivity of Satoshi Nakamoto’s fortune for 15 years opens a crossroads of possibilities.

Hypothesis 1: Loss of access Nakamoto has lost the private keys to these addresses. It’s both common (users lose Bitcoin all the time) and tragic (a fortune frozen forever). But it seems unlikely: why would someone with such technical skill be disempowered from his own creation?

Hypothesis 2: Death Nakamoto succumbed to illness, accident, or suicide. No proof, of course, but statistically, after 16 years of absolute silence, it remains plausible.

Hypothesis 3: Fear of regulators Nakamoto might have realized that revealing or spending his wealth would expose him to authorities, compliance audits, KYC requirements of exchanges. Silence and immobility offer protection.

Hypothesis 4: No need Perhaps Nakamoto lives modestly, satisfied to have changed the world, with no interest in material wealth. A technophilosopher for whom digital currency was the goal, not personal riches.

Hypothesis 5: Symbolic power By never touching these coins, Nakamoto makes them sacred. Each immovable BTC becomes a relic, reinforcing the ethos of digital scarcity that Bitcoin advocates. It’s a gesture of non-spending as powerful as a spend.

In 2019, a controversial theory circulated: researchers suspected Nakamoto of strategically ceding BTC since 2019 via various addresses. But blockchain analysts dismissed these claims—the transaction patterns did not match Nakamoto’s known signatures. They were probably early adopters, not Nakamoto himself.

Why anonymity remains fundamental

If Nakamoto revealed himself, Bitcoin would lose its innocence. An identified creator becomes a central vulnerability point. Governments could target him, threaten him, arrest him. Competitors could bribe him. His statements could shake the market. His death, withdrawal, or change of mind could fragment the project into rival factions.

Nakamoto’s anonymity is a feature, not a bug. It ensures Bitcoin has emancipated itself from its creator, evolving according to network consensus, not individual will.

It’s a masterstroke of political and technical genius: invent something and disappear, leaving the invention to live independently.

The cultural impact of an absence: from HBO to popular mythology

The irony of the invisible creator: Nakamoto has become an icon.

In January 2025, Bitcoin briefly surpassed $109,000, giving Nakamoto’s theoretical fortune a value exceeding $120 billion—placing him in the top 10 wealthiest in the world. Paradoxically: the richest has never spent.

Bronze statues commemorating Nakamoto in Budapest (2021) with a reflective face, symbolizing “we are all Satoshi”) and in Lugano, Switzerland. In 2022, Vans launched a limited edition “Satoshi Nakamoto” collection. T-shirts, HBO documentaries, memes—Nakamoto has become a mythic figure of digital counterculture.

His quotes circulate like mantras: “The fundamental problem with traditional currencies is all the trust needed to make them work.” “If you don’t believe me or understand, I don’t have time to try to convince you.”

Blockchain innovation has blossomed into countless applications: Ethereum, DeFi, central bank digital currencies. All stemming from Nakamoto’s architecture. But unlike his heirs, Bitcoin remains true to its decentralized vision—no leader, no figurehead, just a protocol and consensus.

Conclusion

As Bitcoin approaches its 17th anniversary, Satoshi Nakamoto remains the central enigma of cryptocurrency. Not just his identity, but his fortune—this treasure of $63.8 billion to $93.5 billion that has been dormant since 2011.

This absence may be Nakamoto’s definitive signature: a revolution that never needed its inventor, a wealth that does not need to be owned, a vision that survived its creator by the very strength of its principles.

Bitcoin belongs to no one. And it is precisely because Nakamoto belongs to no one that Bitcoin has become a global commons.