The 50-year mystery: Does the Bitcoin ghost creator really exist?

April 5, 2025, a virtual birthday is marked on the calendar by the global crypto community. According to that mysterious source, Сатоши Накамото should be celebrating their 50th birthday on this day. But the date itself is full of symbolism—it points to the moment in 1933 when the United States banned gold ownership, and also to the year when the gold ban was lifted. This is clearly no coincidence, but a clever tribute by the crypto punk.

The Disappearing Billionaire

The most bizarre part isn’t the unknown identity, but the strange wealth. Blockchain analysis suggests that Сатоши Накамото controls between 750,000 and 1.1 million bitcoins. Based on April 2025 prices, this wealth is worth between $63.8 billion and $93.5 billion. In other words, this person—if it is indeed one person—could be among the top 20 wealthiest individuals in the world.

But this astronomical fortune has never been touched. Not a single coin moved.

Since Сатоши disappeared from the internet in 2011, these bitcoins have been frozen in time, quietly lying in some corner of the blockchain. This eerie static state has sparked a series of speculations: Did he die? Forget the private keys? Or did he intend from the start to donate this wealth to the Bitcoin ecosystem?

Main Suspects in the Identity Mystery

Over the past 16 years, the entire crypto world has played a game called “Are you Сатоши?” Every suspect who has appeared has denied it outright.

Хал Финни (1956-2014) is one of the strongest candidates. This cryptographer not only possessed the technical knowledge needed to create Bitcoin but also received the first Bitcoin transfer from Сатоши. His writing style is eerily similar to Сатоши’s, even down to grammatical habits—such as double spaces from the typewriter era. Finney lived in California, close to another suspect. But he denied being Сатоши until his death from ALS in 2014.

Ник Сабо is the creator of the “Bit Gold” concept, which proposed a similar idea to Bitcoin as early as 1998. Linguistic analysis shows his writing style closely matches that of Сатоши. But Сабо’s response was: “I’m afraid you’ve got the wrong person, but I’ve long been used to such accusations.”

Адам Бэк developed the Hashcash algorithm—explicitly referenced in the Bitcoin white paper. He was also one of the early developers who contacted Сатоши. But Бэк also firmly denies being the creator.

The most outrageous is Крейг Райт. This Australian computer scientist has repeatedly claimed to be Сатоши, even registering the copyright of the Bitcoin white paper in the US. But in March 2024, a judge in the UK High Court, Джеймс Меллор, directly ruled: “Dr. Wright is not the author of the Bitcoin white paper, nor is he the person behind the pseudonym.” The court found his evidence to be forged.

In 2024, HBO’s documentary Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery introduced a new suspect—Питер Тодд, an early Bitcoin developer. But Todd sarcastically responded that this theory is “absurd, like winning the lottery.”

What Did the White Paper Change?

On October 31, 2008, a 9-page document quietly appeared on a cryptography mailing list. The title was simple: Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System.

This document was more than just an introduction of a new currency. It solved a key problem that had plagued digital currencies for over 20 years—the double-spending problem. Before this, no digital form of money could prevent the same funds from being spent twice. Сатоши solved this with proof-of-work and a decentralized network.

On January 3, 2009, the Genesis Block was mined. Embedded in its code was a message: The Times 3 January 2009, Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks. This was no random choice but a timestamp—an annotation of an era when traditional banking systems were collapsing, and something new was emerging.

Why the Need for Disappearance

Сатоши’s disappearance was not accidental but a carefully designed self-erasure.

First, a named founder would become a “central failure point” for Bitcoin. Governments might pressure, arrest, or threaten him. Competitors could buy him out. Every statement he made could trigger market swings or network forks. With a public creator, decentralization becomes a hollow phrase.

Second, from a purely security perspective, someone holding assets worth billions would be a target for kidnapping, extortion, or murder. Disappearance is the most basic form of self-defense.

But the deepest reason is philosophical. Bitcoin’s entire design philosophy is to make users not need to trust anyone—even not trust its creator. In a system that emphasizes mathematics over human nature, having an invisible founder perfectly embodies this principle. By vanishing, Сатоши proved that Bitcoin does not rely on any individual.

How the Non-Existent Person Changed the World

Сатоши Накамото has become a symbol, rather than just an identity.

In 2021, a bronze bust was erected in Budapest. Its face is made of reflective material, allowing viewers to see their own reflection. The inscription reads: “We are all Сатоши.”

In March 2025, the US president signed an executive order establishing a Bitcoin strategic reserve. Once considered fringe technology, it has now become a national asset. This is the irony Сатоши envisioned—the system designed to counter government monetary policy was ultimately incorporated into national policy.

Сатоши’s quotes circulate in the crypto community:

• “The fundamental problem with traditional currency is the trust needed to sustain it.”
• “If you don’t believe me or understand my point, I don’t have time to convince you to change your mind.”

These words have become the scriptures of crypto philosophy.

Streetwear brands have launched a Сатоши-themed clothing line. Vans released a limited collaboration series in 2022. A virtual character has entered pop culture, becoming a totem of the digital revolution.

The broader impact is on the technological level. The blockchain mechanism invented by Сатоши has spawned an entire ecosystem—smart contract platforms, DeFi applications, prototypes of central bank digital currencies. Over 500 million crypto users worldwide have indirectly inherited the legacy of this ghostly founder.

Is He Alive?

No one knows.

The last confirmed communication was in April 2011, when Сатоши sent an email to early developer Гэвин Андресен: “I regret to see you continue to portray me as a mysterious shadow figure; the media will only turn this into a pirate currency story.” After that, silence.

There is reason to believe he may have passed away. The wallets containing between 7.5 million and 11 million bitcoins have never been touched. The 16 years of inactivity always point to the same conclusion: this person is either dead, has completely abandoned the wealth, or is watching his creation operate independently from some unknown place, silently satisfied.

Dislocation of History

There is another clue about Сатоши’s true age. His coding habits—Hungarian notation, uppercase C class definitions—point to someone who learned programming in the 1980s to early 1990s. When he created Bitcoin in 2008, his programming experience could have been over 20 years. This suggests that the current Сатоши might not be 50 but closer to 60.

His comments on the Hunt brothers’ silver manipulation in 1980 seem as if he experienced it firsthand, intensifying this speculation. A true crypto punk, a generation that witnessed financial crises and believed in inviolable freedom.

The Final Question

Sixteen years have passed, and intelligence agencies, journalists, researchers have all tried to solve this mystery. But every investigation ends in failure. Perhaps Сатоши Накамото never wanted to be found. Or maybe the identity itself is unnecessary.

As we celebrate this virtual 50th birthday, the real question has changed. We no longer ask “Who is Сатоши?” but “Do we need to know?”

The answer may be hidden in Bitcoin’s own code—a system that requires no trust in anyone, created by someone no one has seen. That in itself is the most perfect answer.