Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, is now among the wealthiest individuals — or group of individuals — on the planet, without ever moving a single dollar of their fortune or revealing any identifying details about themselves.
With BTC climbing above $122,000 on Monday, Satoshi’s estimated 1.1 million coins are worth over $134 billion, according to public blockchain data.
That would place them just outside the global top 10 richest people, ahead of names like Dell Computers CEO Michael Dell and Walmart heir Rob Walton, and inching closer to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and legendary investor Warren Buffett according to the Forbes real-time billionaires list.
The stash is within touching distance of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who has as estimated net worth of $142 billion.
Satoshi’s wallet, which got all its holdings from mining the network in its earliest days, has remained untouched since 2010. The network was still able to be run on a few laptops at the time.
None of the BTC has ever moved, sparking endless speculation about whether Nakamoto is dead, missing or simply committed to never interfering with the project again.
Unlike most billionaires, Satoshi didn’t build a company, pitch to VCs, or list anything on the stock market. And 16 years later, that quiet drop has helped spawn a $2.4 trillion network at current valuations.
Bitcoin notched a new all-time high this week, buoyed by renewed ETF inflows, inflation-hedge narratives, and persistent demand from institutions. While Satoshi’s fortune is theoretical — as none of it has been sold or verified as accessible — the valuation highlights just how far crypto has come since Satoshi’s final forum post in 2011.