Bitcoin has seen a meteoric rise since its inception, rallying 34,410% so far. Yet, the real identity of its founder Satoshi Nakamoto remains unknown. Bitcoin today hit a fresh lifetime high, crossing the $121,000-mark for the first time ever. This would take the net worth of its anonymous founder to $128.92 billion to emerge as the 11th richest person on Earth, as per data cited by Bitcoin.com News.
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Nakamoto reportedly replaced Michael Dell, the founder, Chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies, whose net worth currently stands at around $124.8 billion. Despite the reported rise in fortune, Nakamoto won’t feature on Forbes billionaires list as most of his fortune comprises crypto, which the firm doesn’t consider as publicly verifiable holdings. (Image : Michael Dell)
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Satoshi Nakamoto is the pseudonym used either by the founder or group of founders of Bitcoin. Nakamoto had written a white paper on the idea of Bitcoin in 2008 during the great financial crisis, and contributed to the development of the software until 2010. Then, he suddenly disappeared from public eye and remains anonymous as of date.
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The first bitcoin was mined by Nakamoto in 2009, and the genesis blockchain was launched. Initially what had zero value, saw its first real life transaction when a Florida man agreed to exchange two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins on May 22. Today, the day is celebrated as Bitcoin Pizza Day.
Satoshi Nakamoto's wallet, which holds all his holdings from mining the network, remains untouched since 2010. This has led to several speculations, as to whether he is dead.
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In 2011, Nakamoto allegedly replied to an email about his whereabouts from a developer. When asked if he plans to rejoin the community at some point, Nakamoto reportedly said, "I have moved on to other things. It’s in good hands with Gavin and everyone."
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Over the years, several people have been suspected to be the possible founder of Bitcoin. An HBO documentary in 2024 suggested that Canadian software developer Peter Todd was likely the mysterious crypto mogul. He however denied the claims.
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Australian computer scientist Craig Wright meanwhile claimed that he was Satoshi Nakamoto. However a court found substantial evidence against the claims. Several others including Dorian Nakamoto have been alleged to be the mysterious founder. (Image: Craig Wright, source: Reuters)
While the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto remains mysterious, bitcoin continues to rally significantly. The sharp rally was further fuelled after US President Donald Trump took charge.
