How Rich is Satoshi Nakamoto?

Satoshi Nakamoto released the white paper for Bitcoin in 2008 and began mining the first Bitcoins in January of 2009. In the early days of Bitcoin, it was possible for anyone to mine the cryptocurrency using a standard computer. As a result, it is believed that Satoshi Nakamoto was able to accumulate a significant amount of Bitcoin in the early days of the cryptocurrency.

How Rich is Satoshi Nakamoto?

As a consequence of Bitcoin's tremendous expansion, Satoshi has reached a place among the top 100 wealthiest individuals on earth. Nevertheless, it appears that Satoshi has never disposed of any of their Bitcoin, and his current state of being alive is uncertain.

It is estimated that Satoshi Nakamoto owns around 1 million Bitcoins. However, it is important to note that these estimates are based on assumptions and it is not possible to know the exact amount of Bitcoins owned by Satoshi Nakamoto.

Satoshi Nakamoto’s Net Worth in 2023

Experts have furnished reasonably accurate calculations of the amount of BTC held by Satoshi, thus making it possible to estimate their net worth. As of January 2023, Satoshi Nakamoto's net worth is estimated to be around $18 billion. When Bitcoin reached its highest value in November 2021, Satoshi Nakamoto's net worth was approximately $76 billion.

Assuming that Satoshi Nakamoto's net worth is $18 billion, they would be ranked 86th on Forbes' real-time billionaires list. They would also likely be the wealthiest person in the crypto world, surpassing Binance CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, whose net worth is estimated at $12.3 billion by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

It is probable that Satoshi holds the largest amount of Bitcoin in the world. The following is an illustration of the amount of Bitcoin held by some prominent "whales":

Satoshi Nakamoto: 1.1 million BTC
Grayscale Bitcoin Trust: 631,000 BTC
Binance: 521,000 BTC
Coinbase: 483,000 BTC
Bitfinex: 353,000 BTC
MicroStrategy: 132,500 BTC

*Data as of January 7, 2023

What is the Bitcoin Address of Satoshi Nakamoto?

Each of the block rewards earned by Satoshi were sent to different addresses, resulting in over 20,000 addresses holding Satoshi's Bitcoin. The most well-known address is the one that received the reward from Bitcoin's first block (genesis block). Interestingly, the 50 BTC rewarded for the genesis block are unspendable.

The Genesis address (the very first address bitcoin was sent to) is: 1A1zP1eP5QGefi2DMPTfTL5SLmv7DivfNa

From time to time, Bitcoin users send BTC to the "genesis address" as a way to pay homage to Satoshi. To date, a total of around 18.57 BTC has been sent to this address, in addition to the 50 BTC from the genesis block reward.

Another address of significance belonging to Satoshi is the one used to make the first-ever Bitcoin transaction between two users. On January 12, 2009, Satoshi sent 10 BTC to Hal Finney, a software developer who was one of the first people to adopt Bitcoin.

But keep in mind that Satoshi had at least 22,000 Bitcoin addresses, as they utilized a new address for each mining reward to maintain anonymity.

Analysts in the crypto market keep an eye on the Bitcoin blockchain to check if any transactions are being sent from wallets that were active during the "Satoshi era." However, no BTC transactions have occurred since Satoshi's departure from the Bitcoin project that can be attributed to him with certainty.

Critics of Bitcoin

Bitcoin has drawn a considerable amount of criticism for various reasons. It has been criticized for its association with illegal activities, its large environmental impact due to the excessive energy consumption required for its creation, and its significant price volatility. Many economists who have won the Nobel Prize have likened Bitcoin to the Dutch tulip mania of the 17th century, describing it as an economic bubble. Additionally, some have raised concerns about the cryptocurrency potentially being a Ponzi scheme.

On the other hand, Bitcoin has also received a lot of support from various industries, investors and experts. Bitcoin has been praised for its ability to act as a store of value and a hedge against inflation, its decentralized nature and the fact that it is not controlled by any government or financial institution.

Bitcoin has also been recognized for its potential to provide financial inclusion to the unbanked population and for its role in promoting a cashless society. Furthermore, many experts in the field of cryptocurrency argue that the environmental impact of Bitcoin can be mitigated with the use of renewable energy and the implementation of more efficient technologies.

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How Rich is Satoshi Nakamoto?