One of the most innovative and shadowy figures of our lifetime has to be BTC creator Satoshi Nakamoto. Very little is known about Satoshi, and theories range widely regarding his identity. This individual, group of individuals, or AI program brought the world their first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. Much has transpired over the last nine years since BTC’s introduction to the world. Today, Mr. Nakamoto is sitting on a BTC fortune in the Genesis block, the first address on the blockchain. Let’s take a deeper look at how much Satoshi is really worth.
How Many Tokens Did Satoshi Nakamoto Originally Mine?
This question has been debated probably as much as Satoshi’s true identity. There have been extensive studies conducted on this topic, and no consistent answer has been concluded. Arguably the most accurate study conducted so far concluded that Satoshi has around one million BTC. The researcher, Sergio Demian Lerner, utilized an extraNonce field increment technique to deduce his findings.
Lerner was able to deduce that one computer was responsible for the majority of the first BTC mined. By tracking the Coinbase transaction, which was the creation of the new BTC, Lerner was able to show that from the Genesis block to block 36288 there was one significant miner in operation. These findings match previous research that placed the number of coins mined at 1,148,800.
How Much is Satoshi Worth Today?
Adding up Satoshi’s wealth is an interesting task because no one knows for sure which addresses belong to Satoshi. For the sake of argument, let’s say Satoshi has the originally mined 1,148,800 BTC plus 16.7 BTC in tips. This gives us a total of 1,148,816.7 BTC ($8,807,977,638.9). Add in Satoshi’s BCH and you have $10,112,428,550.90. This excludes all of the hard forks which have occurred.
Hard Forks
You must also consider all of the hard forks that have occurred when adding up Satoshi’s true wealth. Satoshi would have around $1,304,450,912 worth of BCH using the market value at the time of writing which is $1,135.49 per BCH. Once you start piling on the plethora of new hard forks such as Bitcoin Gold ($51,765,680.502), Bitcoin Diamond ($3,320,080.263), Bitcoin God ($26,181,532.593), Super Bitcoin, Bitcoin Platinum, etc., it only takes a quick glimpse at the market to see the profits start to get mind-blowing.
What’s even crazier is the fact that the hard fork trend is just getting started. There are already close to 20 hard forks scheduled for this year. Now imagine in ten years. Hard forking is becoming a career for many Bitcoin enthusiasts, and Satoshi is positioned to reap the benefits.
How Much Was Satoshi Worth at All-Time High?
You are probably curious what Satoshi’s wealth was measured at in December 2017, when the cryptomarket was showing all-time highs. Let’s see what Satoshi was worth when BTC was at its all-time high of $19,783.06 so we can really grasp his potential earnings. Do the math and you will get $22,726,779,328. Not bad at all Mr. Nakamoto.
Could Satoshi Become the Richest Man in the World?
BTC would need to hit a market value of $60,000 per coin to make Nakamoto the richest man in the world. Currently, he doesn’t even rank in the top 1000 richest people according to Forbes “Richest People” rankings.
What Will Satoshi Do With His BTC?
Nobody knows what Satoshi will do with his prized BTCs. The only thing that anyone really knows is that these BTC have never moved. The sheer size of the holdings has many people worried about what effects these 1 million BTC could have on the market if, for example, Satoshi decided to sell them all one day.
Satoshi’s fortune is so large that he would tank the price of BTC if he decided to release his coins into the market. John Hopkins University cryptocurrency professor, Matt Green, has written extensively about the effects such actions would have on the market value of BTC. In his works, he expresses real concerns over the fact that Satoshi’s influence has not been felt in the market since his departure.
People Keep Sending Satoshi BTC
Ironically, Satoshi’s BTC wallet continues to grow. For some unknown reason, people keep sending Satoshi BTC. In one particularly notable incident, Mt. Gox sent Satoshi 1.23 BTC. In total, Satoshi has received an additional 16.7 BTC in tips to the Genesis address.
Due to the way that BTC is coded, these funds are unable to be spent as the Genesis block was never added to the blockchain. Consequently, this is why this block is also called block 0. Everyone that has sent Satoshi BTC, sent their funds into what is essentially blockchain limbo. It’s the thought that counts though, right?
The Faceless Billionaire
Whoever Satoshi really is, and wherever he or she is right now (maybe reading this?), deserves a standing ovation. The entire world is curious as to who owns the BTC fortune. Governments have even researched Satoshi. Reports vary on the results of these endeavors, with some claiming that they were able to identify him, but, as it stands today, no one has come forward and been able to prove that they are the true owner of the BTC fortune.
Final Thoughts – He Earned It
Blockchain technology is transforming the global economy by providing a secure and efficient means in which to conduct business. It’s hard to say if this technology, or the price of BTC, would have developed at the same pace had Satoshi revealed his or her identity from the start. The only thing you can be absolutely sure of is that the day one of those BTC moves from Satoshi’s wallet, the entire world will be watching.
Editor’s Note: This article is originally published at Coincentral.com
