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Satoshi Nakamoto has an intriguing history that is shrouded in mystery. Nobody knows exactly who Satoshi was, and the closest many can get to uncovering Nakamoto’s secret pseudonym is by interrogating their Bitcoin wallet address. Although we do not have access to all of Satoshi’s potential BTC holdings, there is one address we know for sure is theirs – the wallet that mined the Bitcoin genesis block. This article will explore Satoshi Nakamoto's wallet address, and discover how many Bitcoin it holds in Satoshi's wallet.
What Is Satoshi Nakamoto's Wallet Address?
Satoshi Nakamoto is the founder of Bitcoin and has historically used more than just one wallet address to conduct BTC-related business. But we do know Bitcoin’s genesis block was mined by Satoshi Nakamoto on the 3rd of January 2009. Satoshi Nakamoto’s address that was used to receive BTC from the genesis block is easy to find on a block explorer like Blockchain.com or Blockchair.
Satoshi Nakamoto's wallet address is: 1A1zP1eP5QGefi2DMPTfTL5SLmv7DivfNa
The genesis block rewarded Satoshi Nakamoto with 50 BTC but interestingly, these assets were not spendable. This is because of how the Bitcoin blockchain was coded, as the transaction to Satoshi’s wallet was not added to the global transaction database used by decentralized blockchain nodes. Therefore, the BTC appeared out of thin air, in contrast to the mining rewards one would receive from validating a normal block.
As far as we can tell, Satoshi has not spent the Bitcoin in this wallet that can actually be transferred (equivalent to about 22.6 BTC). The “genesis block” wallet address contains 72.6 BTC, which is worth about $2.1m USD as of August 2023.
The wallet has quite a bit of activity, as many users pay homage to the creator of Bitcoin and blockchain technology by sending them small amounts of BTC. For example, the 22nd of July saw 14 independent transactions of approximately ~$2 come into Satoshi’s wallet.
Satoshi Nakamoto's First Transaction
Not long after the genesis block was mined, Satoshi Nakamoto made the first-ever peer-to-peer transaction using the Bitcoin blockchain. On June 12, 2009, just three days after the Bitcoin network went live, Nakamoto sent American software engineer Hal Finney 10 BTC using the Bitcoin wallet address 12cbQLTFMXRnSzktFkuoG3eHoMeFtpTu3S.
The address responsible for the outgoing transaction, confirmed as belonging to Satoshi Nakamoto, made several payments on the 12th and 13th of January, 2009 and has remained dormant since. However, much like Satoshi’s genesis block address, crypto enthusiasts have intermittently transferred small amounts of BTC to the wallet. At the time of writing, Satoshi's wallet used to make the first Bitcoin transaction holds 18.43 BTC, equivalent to approximately USD $500k.
Satoshi's Dormant Bitcoin Wallets
In 2021, several Bitcoin wallets associated with Satoshi Nakamoto that had lay dormant for over a decade began to suddenly make transactions again, raising speculation that these addresses belonged to the creator of cryptocurrency. In December, about 165 BTC was sent from this address (13eab260d303c940243362a7bb92198687fe0a548053380b517a128bb6f1a5ab) to an unknown recipient, marking the first time it’d been used since 2010. At its peak, the address contained 500 BTC, most of which were mined in Bitcoin’s early days in 2009, when Satoshi Nakamoto was still active.
How Much Bitcoin Does Satoshi Nakamoto Own?
Given Nakamoto’s penchant for privacy, it is impossible to confirm exactly how many Bitcoins he owns. However, several blockchain analysts have studied transactions from Bitcoin’s early days to provide well-informed estimates. A study from Sergio Demian Lerner differentiated Bitcoin mined in a certain pattern consistent with Satoshi’s public activity to uncover exactly how many they mined before going off the radar. Lerner came to the conclusion Nakamoto may own – or at least once owned – in excess of 1.1 million BTC. At current Bitcoin prices, Satoshi Nakamoto's net worth is $32 billion USD.
More recent research suggests Nakamoto only owns a little over half of Lerner’s estimates, around 6-700,000 BTC. This still amounts to an absurd amount of net worth, totaling well over $15 billion. Regardless of the exact amount Nakamoto owns, it is impossible to find Satoshi Nakamoto’s wallet address because they likely have hundreds, if not thousands. This is because most of the BTC the blockchain creator owns is still held in the transactions of the blocks he mined.
Who Is Satoshi Nakamoto?
There is only one correct answer to the question “Who is Satoshi Nakamoto?”
Nobody knows.
Given Satoshi is the face of Bitcoin and a figurehead of Internet culture, there are many theories posited by fans and researchers that may shed some light on who Nakamoto is. Some people have even claimed to be Nakamoto, although many are skeptical Satoshi would voluntarily reveal themselves, given their history of operating in the dark.
Some of the names associated with Satoshi include:
- Dorian Nakamoto. Public newspapers outed Dorian Nakamoto as the founder of Bitcoin thanks to their engineering background and interest in blockchain tech. However, he was determined to not be Satoshi Nakamoto upon investigation.
- Craig Wright. Wright is an Australian businessman who claimed to be the founder of Bitcoin. There is a chunk of evidence suggesting this may be possible – it was deemed that the Bitcoin whitepaper was Wright’s intellectual property, and he was taken to court over the co-creation of Bitcoin and ownership of Satoshi’s estimated 1.1m in BTC holdings. It is likely that Wright was involved in building the framework of Bitcoin, but in what capacity is a little less clear.
Frequently Asked Questions
What wallet address does Satoshi Nakamoto use?
There are several public wallets verified as owned by Satoshi – notably the Genesis block address and the Hal Finney address. However, Nakamoto did not own or use one single wallet address. Rather, each block reward Satoshi received was sent to a new address, so the Bitcoin founder likely owns thousands of different wallets.
How much is Satoshi’s wallet worth?
Given Satoshi Nakamoto owned thousands of wallets, it’s impossible to know for sure just how much their combined value is. Using conservative estimates from research, they may have owned 650,000 BTC, worth about $19 billion USD as of 2023.
Who has more Bitcoin than Satoshi Nakamoto?
The two largest Bitcoin wallets are owned by some of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges – Binance and Bitfinex. At the time of writing, Binance’s cold wallet accounts for 1.28% of all circulating Bitcoin, or 250,000 BTC. This is just one of many Binance cold wallets that has a net worth of $1 billion (or more).
