There is a figure in the crypto world who has almost become a legend—no one knows who he is, but he changed the entire financial world with a single PDF. And then he disappeared. This person is called Satoshi Nakamoto.

I recently thought of this story again. Because every time I look at Bitcoin’s price, I think of this mysterious founder.

On October 31, 2008, a person named Satoshi Nakamoto posted a paper on the cryptography mailing list: "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System." It was only 9 pages. Two months later, on January 3, 2009, the Bitcoin network went live. Block 0 was mined, and Satoshi Nakamoto left a line of message inside—The headline of The Times of London that day: "Fiscal Minister faces second bank bailout." This was not just code; it was like a declaration.

Over the next two years, Satoshi Nakamoto did almost all the pioneering work—writing the first client, running the first full node, helping others mine, sending the first BTC to developer Hal Finney. Then in 2010, he handed the project over to others. In April 2011, he left his last words: "I have moved on to other things." No farewell, no cashing out, no media appearances. Then he went silent to this day.

It is estimated that Satoshi Nakamoto mined a total of 1 million BTC. At today's prices, that wealth is worth over a hundred billion dollars. But over these 17 years, not a single coin has moved. No transfers, no spending. It’s like they are frozen in time.

This has sparked a classic question: Is he an individual or a team? Supporters of "it’s a person" point out his consistent writing style, unified development accounts, and detailed, deep emails. But others say he is active across multiple time zones, writes code at an extremely fast pace, and his English is flawless—more characteristic of a team.

Many "suspects" have emerged around Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity. Hal Finney was the first person to receive Bitcoin, a renowned cryptographer who later died of ALS. Some believe he is Satoshi, while others say he was just an early helper. Nick Szabo created "Bit Gold" in 2005, considered a precursor to Bitcoin; his writing style is strikingly similar to Satoshi’s, but he never posted on early Bitcoin forums. Adam Back invented Hashcash, which Satoshi’s white paper referenced; he is a veteran Cypherpunk, with British spelling matching Satoshi’s. There are also speculations about Elon Musk, but Musk has directly denied it.

The most intriguing is Craig Wright. This guy openly claims to be Satoshi and has even gone to court over it. But the problem is, he has never signed a message with Satoshi’s private key—something that could prove his identity in a second. The developer community generally dismisses his claims.

There are also conspiracy theories involving the NSA. Bitcoin’s core encryption algorithm, SHA-256, was designed by the NSA, and Bitcoin’s launch coincided with the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. Satoshi Nakamoto disappeared cleanly and decisively. But there’s no solid evidence for this, and it completely contradicts Bitcoin’s spirit of decentralization.

What truly matters is the legacy Satoshi Nakamoto left behind. He gave the world a set of code and then disappeared. No pursuit of fame, no cashing out, no desire for power. That’s the most crucial part—the existence of Bitcoin does not depend on any founder. Its foundation is mathematics, code, and community. That’s why it cannot be destroyed.

Every time I see Bitcoin’s price fluctuations, I think of the mystery of Satoshi Nakamoto. Perhaps it’s precisely because he vanished that Bitcoin has truly become a decentralized force.