Satoshi Nakamoto’s 1.1 million Bitcoin wallet hit a value of over $134 billion on Monday, when the price of Bitcoin hit its all-time high above $123,000.
This put the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin at 11 on the Forbes billionaires list, just behind Warren Buffett, and ahead of the likes of Michael Dell and Bill Gates.
The known unknown
No one knows who or what Satoshi Nakamoto is: it could be an individual or a group of people. What we do know is they developed Bitcoin and published the Bitcoin White Paper in October 2018: “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”. This laid out the concepts of decentralized finance and the use of blockchain, as well technical details about the new peer-to-peer electronic cash system.
We also know Satoshi Nakamoto used a few laptops for Bitcoin mining right at the beginning and that the wallet has remained untouched since 2010. That gives rise to a number of questions, particularly Why? and Why not? And does Satoshi Nakamoto actually exist? Have they disappeared? Or have they simply so dedicated to the concept that they decided not to interfere with Bitcoin in any way?
Potential for volatility
What is clear is that the Bitcoin in the wallet only has value if it is used in some way. However, activating it now could well cause significant speculation which could undermine market confidence, causing increased volatility and potentially devaluation.
