Satoshi's Mistery: 50 Years of Secrets and Billions of Dollars

April 5, 1975 — is the official birth date declared by Satoshi Nakamoto in his profile. If this date is genuine, then the creator of Bitcoin would have turned exactly 50 years old in 2025. However, crypto enthusiasts have long suspected: is this a real date or an elegant symbolic choice?

Most likely, it’s symbolism. On April 5, 1933, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 6102, which prohibited Americans from owning gold. And the year 1975? That’s when Congress repealed that ban, restoring citizens’ rights to precious metals. Nakamoto chose a date that encodes the entire history of the fight for financial freedom from the state. Bitcoin is that gold — only digital and outside government control.

Who is he really?

On October 31, 2008, the world received a 9-page white paper that changed everything. “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” — that was the revolution. In this document, an unknown programmer described an electronic cash system from peer to peer, capable of operating without banks and intermediaries.

Nakamoto’s profile on P2P Foundation claimed he was a 37-year-old man from Japan. But linguists quickly noticed: his English was perfect British, with spellings like “colour” and “optimise.” He’s not Japanese. His activity pattern? He rarely wrote between 5 and 11 a.m. GMT. So, he was probably from the USA or the UK.

On January 3, 2009, Nakamoto mined the first block — the Genesis Block. It contained a quote from The Times newspaper: “Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.” It was a message. The global banking system was in crisis, and Nakamoto offered an alternative.

Nakamoto solved a problem that had plagued cryptographic mathematicians for decades: how to prevent the same digital coin from being spent twice? Proof of work plus a decentralized network. Simple and genius.

The creator remained active until December 2010, then gradually disappeared. His last message to developer Gavin Andresen was in April 2011: “I would prefer if you didn’t call me a mysterious shadow figure. The press makes it into a pirate currency.” Then — silence for 14 years.

Wealth touching the sky

When analysts looked at early Bitcoin blocks, they found something astonishing: one address mined a huge number of coins in the first year. That was Nakamoto. Researcher Sergio Demian Lerner discovered a pattern — called it “Patoshi” — and decoded which blocks the creator mined.

Result? Between 750,000 and 1.1 million bitcoins. At the current price, around $85 thousand ( spring 2025), that’s $63.8–93.5 billion. Nakamoto would be among the top 20 wealthiest people in the world — but no one knows about it, and he has made no expenditures.

Not a single transaction from these wallets. Not a drop. Theories spread everywhere: he lost the private keys, he died, he’s holding the coins as a gift for future generations of the crypto community.

What makes this fact incredible: if Nakamoto ever moved these coins, it would cause a tsunami in the market. The price would plummet out of fear that the creator is selling. Even a hint of activity would change the entire crypto sphere. That’s why his silence is also a form of guardianship.

Five candidates, no certainty

Over 16 years, crypto detectives have named a dozen possible individuals.

Hal Finney (1956–2014) — cryptographer, received the first transaction from Nakamoto. Lived near Dorian Nakamoto in California. Linguistic analysis found similarities in writing style. But Finney, before dying of ALS in 2014, stubbornly denied being Satoshi.

Nick Szabo — inventor of “bit gold” (the precursor to Bitcoin) back in 1998. His writing style is strikingly similar to Nakamoto’s upon analysis. Szabo repeatedly said: “I am not Satoshi.” But many don’t believe him.

Adam Back — created Hashcash — the proof-of-work system on which Bitcoin is based. The white paper directly references his work. Back was involved in crypto earlier than anyone, but also denies being Satoshi.

Craig Wright, Australian computer scientist, has loudly claimed he is Satoshi. Even registered copyrights for the white paper. But in March 2024, a British court officially declared: Wright is not the author, and the documents he presented as evidence are forgeries.

Peter Todd — former Bitcoin developer, named as a possible Nakamoto in the 2024 HBO documentary. Todd said it’s “nonsense” and “a shot in the dark.” The theory relies on his Canadian English dialect.

The latest synthesis: maybe Nakamoto is a team, not a single person. Perhaps several of the above individuals collaborated to create Bitcoin.

Why remain anonymous

This is not a tale of secrets. It’s architecture.

If Nakamoto had remained known, Bitcoin would be hostage to his identity. Governments would pressure him, threaten legal action. Enemies would need only one explosion to destroy the creator — and the community would fall apart behind him. Financial interests would try to buy him out.

His words would carry the weight of gold. A single comment from him could change the course of development. His death would mean collapse.

By choosing anonymity, Nakamoto set conditions for Bitcoin to develop organically, without a cult of personality. It’s pure cyberpunk: a system that functions independently of its creators.

And this reflects the core philosophy: Bitcoin doesn’t ask you to believe in Nakamoto. It asks you to believe in mathematics and code.

Culture and legacy

Over 17 years, Bitcoin has ceased to be just a technical experiment. In January 2025, when Bitcoin’s price hit a record over $109 thousand, Nakamoto’s estimated wealth exceeded $120 billion. He would have entered the top 10 wealthiest on the planet.

In Budapest, there’s a bronze bust of Nakamoto with a mirrored face: so everyone can see themselves. The slogan “We are all Satoshi” has become a mania.

In March 2025, the US president signed an order establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve. What early crypto-activists considered impossible has happened: the state recognized Bitcoin.

Nakamoto’s quotes live on: “The main problem with regular currency is all the trust it requires.” Brands produce clothing with his name. Popular culture has turned him into a legend.

But the legend remains somewhere out there, living a civilian life, in which no one knows him and no one awaits his words. His creation thrives without him. That’s exactly what he wanted.