Bitcoin was created by someone using the name Satoshi Nakamoto. Nobody knows who that is: a man, a woman, or a group.
What we do know
- Satoshi published the whitepaper in 2008 and the first software in January 2009.
- Satoshi worked with early contributors by email and on forums for about two years.
- The last public forum post dates from December 2010. The last known emails, in April 2011, say Satoshi had moved on to other things.
- Satoshi is believed to have mined around a million bitcoin in the early days. Those coins have never moved.
The guesses
Journalists and researchers have named many candidates over the years, including early cypherpunks. All denied it. Craig Wright claimed to be Satoshi for years; in 2024 a UK court ruled that the claim was false.
Why anonymity is a strength
A founder can be arrested, bribed, threatened or simply change their mind. Bitcoin has no founder to pressure. Satoshi left, and the network kept running without them. What matters is not who wrote the code, but that anyone can check it.
▶ SEE IT IN THE MACHINEThe white paper stands at the back of the hall, its first lines engraved exactly as Satoshi wrote them.