The Mystery of Bitcoin: Who Created Bitcoin? An In-Depth Exploration of Satoshi Nakamoto's Legend and the Current State of the Bitcoin Market

On October 31, 2008, a person using the pseudonym “Satoshi Nakamoto” published a paper titled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” on a cryptography mailing list. This paper described a decentralized digital currency system that does not rely on mutual trust between transaction parties.

On January 3, 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto developed the first client program implementing the Bitcoin algorithm, mining the first 50 bitcoins, marking the birth of the Bitcoin financial system. Since then, Nakamoto’s true identity has remained the biggest mystery in the crypto world.

01 The Identity Fog

Satoshi Nakamoto rarely reveals personal information. On the P2P Foundation website profile, he claims to be a 37-year-old male living in Japan. This has sparked widespread suspicion because his English writing is as fluent as a native speaker, yet he has never used Japanese.

He switches between British and American English in speeches and code, and randomly posts at different times of the day. This suggests he may intentionally hide his nationality and time zone, or that multiple people are behind the operation.

Laszlo Hanyecz, who worked on the Bitcoin core development team, believes that Bitcoin’s algorithm design is too sophisticated to be the work of a single individual working alone.

02 Main Suspects

Over the years, several individuals have been suspected of being Satoshi Nakamoto.

Japanese mathematician Shinichi Mochizuki was suspected by computer scientist Ted Nelson because Mochizuki is sufficiently intelligent and his research includes mathematical algorithms used in Bitcoin. However, cryptography is not Mochizuki’s main research interest, and he has denied this suspicion.

In December 2013, blogger Skye Grey concluded through stylometric analysis of Nakamoto’s paper that Nick Szabo, a former George Washington University professor, might be Satoshi. Szabo is passionate about decentralized currencies and has published papers on “Bit Gold,” considered a precursor to Bitcoin.

The most widely known suspicion emerged in March 2014, when journalist Leah McGrath Goodman claimed to have found the real Satoshi—Dorian Nakamoto, a Japanese-American living in California. Dorian initially stated in interviews, “I am no longer involved,” but later denied any connection to Bitcoin.

Later that day, Nakamoto himself sent a message via his P2P Foundation account, which had been dormant for five years, saying: “I am not Dorian Nakamoto.”

On May 2, 2016, Australian entrepreneur Craig Steven Wright publicly claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the inventor of Bitcoin. However, the evidence he provided was widely questioned; when asked to demonstrate key proof, he refused and published a vague blog post instead.

03 The Birth of Bitcoin

After publishing the Bitcoin white paper in 2008, Nakamoto officially launched the Bitcoin network on January 3, 2009. He embedded a message in the genesis block: “The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks,” referencing the headline of The Times on that day.

This message is interpreted both as a timestamp for the block creation and as a satirical comment on the instability of fractional reserve banking systems. Bitcoin was designed to create a form of electronic cash that is not controlled by a single central authority.

In 2010, during the WikiLeaks diplomatic cables leak, the Bitcoin community called for WikiLeaks to accept Bitcoin donations to break financial blockades.

Nakamoto strongly opposed this, believing Bitcoin was still in its infancy and could not withstand conflicts and controversies. This was one of his clear positions expressed publicly.

04 Disappearance and Legacy

On December 12, 2010, Nakamoto published his last post on the Bitcoin forum, mentioning some minor issues in the latest software version, then disappeared from public view, and email communication gradually ceased. In 2011, he handed over the project to other members of the Bitcoin community, stating he had “moved on to other matters.”

It is estimated that Nakamoto holds about 1 million to 1.1 million bitcoins. As of January 2026, these bitcoins are worth approximately $101 billion. These bitcoins have never been moved, making them one of the most mysterious fortunes in the crypto world.

In 2015, Bhagwan Chowdhry, a finance professor at UCLA, nominated Nakamoto as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Economics. He believes that the invention of Bitcoin is revolutionary and will fundamentally change how people think about money.

05 Market Status and Trading Opportunities

As of January 15, 2026, the latest price of Bitcoin on Gate is $96,335.9. This price has increased by 0.99% compared to the previous day, with a 7-day gain of 5.89%.

Bitcoin’s 24-hour trading volume is $1.53 billion, with a total market capitalization of $1.92 trillion, accounting for 56.44% of the market.

Among major Bitcoin holders, besides Nakamoto, there are large exchanges and institutions. Coinbase holds about 884,000 BTC, BlackRock holds 778,000 BTC, and Binance holds 629,000 BTC.

The US government holds 328,000 BTC, mainly from asset seizures related to criminal organizations.

For investors wishing to participate in Bitcoin trading, Gate offers a convenient trading platform. As a leading global cryptocurrency exchange, Gate supports trading in Bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies, providing users with a secure and efficient trading experience.

Although Bitcoin has been around for over a decade, Nakamoto’s mysterious identity remains the biggest unsolved puzzle in the crypto space. Whether Nakamoto is an individual or a team, the Bitcoin system he (or they) left behind has fundamentally changed the financial world, creating a new asset class and decentralization concept.

As Bitcoin’s acceptance worldwide continues to grow, its role in investment portfolios becomes increasingly important. On the Gate platform, investors can easily trade Bitcoin and participate in this digital revolution.

Future Outlook

Bitcoin’s all-time high price once reached $126,080. While current prices are still below this peak, the market generally expects that by 2026, the average price of Bitcoin could reach $96,211.2, with a potential high of $129,885.12.

Before disappearing, Nakamoto handed Bitcoin over to the community, a decision now seen as highly wise: it ensured that Bitcoin truly became a decentralized system with no single control point.