Satoshi Nakamoto Climbing Up ‘World’s Richest’ Ladder as Bitcoin Explodes in Value

Bitcoin, the oldest and most expensive cryptocurrency, is exploding in value now that its next scheduled halving is scheduled for April. As of Tuesday, February 27, Bitcoin is trading at its two-year high price point of $55,753 (roughly Rs. 46.2 lakh). As the cryptocurrency is rising in value, its anonymous creator who goes by the pseudoname of Satoshi Nakamoto is also getting richer. The estimated amount that Nakamoto has accumulated through his BTC holdings is reportedly above $60 billion (roughly Rs. 4,97,333 crore) as of Tuesday.

While the identity and whereabouts of Nakamoto remain unknown – there is some information available about their personal BTC holdings. In a report released in 2020, crypto research firm Whale Alert had claimed that Nakamoto owns 1,125,150 Bitcoin mined up to block 54,316.

At that time, the value of Nakamoto's fortune stood at $10.9 billion (roughly Rs. 90,345 crore). As of February 27, however, the same holding is worth $63.4 billion (roughly Rs. 5,25,977 crore).

If Nakamoto's net worth was tracked accurately by Forbes, they would be ranked under the top 25 richest people in the world. Currently, Bernard Arnault and family – who own Louis Vuitton and a total of 75 luxury brands like Bulgari, Dior, Fendi, and Givenchy – are marked the richest in the world with a fortune of $229.4 billion (roughly Rs. 19,01,347 crore) as per the Forbes' Real Time Billionaires List. Meanwhile, the 24th rank presently belongs to Julia Koch & family with their net worth touching $61.2 billion (roughly Rs. 5,07,247 crore).

Nakamoto's wealth, unlike many traditional businesspersons, is divided across thousands of digital wallets making him one of the most liquid individuals on paper, a CoinTribune report noted. Not a lot is known about this mysterious creator of Bitcoin.

While there are stories and individuals who have, in the past, claimed to possess information about Nakamoto, the most believable details about Nakamoto are logged with the P2P Foundation. This forum is an international organisation that tracks and documents peer to peer practices with a pool of resources. Users of the P2P Foundation forum are required to enter their birthdates when they join.

As per Nakamoto's profile page, BTC's creator was born in 1975 as a male in Japan. It remains unclear if this information is accurate or not. After creating the Bitcoin in 2009, aiming to break the financial monopoly held by world governments, Nakamoto announced his departure from the crypto space in 2011. The explosion of their wealth catapulting them among the world's richest, however, does seem to indicate that Bitcoin is here for the long haul whether world regulators support it or oppose it.