Bitcoin officially reached a historic peak of 122,000 USD in trading this week, pushing the value of the mysterious founder Satoshi Nakamoto's digital asset portfolio to over 134 billion USD.
Despite never having publicly appeared or withdrawn any Bitcoin from his personal wallet, this spectacular price surge has propelled Nakamoto past many famous billionaires like Michael Dell or Rob Walton in the rankings of the richest people in the world.
Holding Bitcoin Amounting to 10 Times the Total Holdings of 'Whales'
According to analysis from blockchain company Arkham, Nakamoto is believed to control about 1.096 million Bitcoin, distributed across thousands of wallets created from the early days of this cryptocurrency.
These wallets, along with their owners, have remained 'inactive' for over a decade, since Nakamoto suddenly withdrew from technology forums in 2011. Nevertheless, his BTC holdings still far exceed any 'whales' in the market (individuals or organizations holding large amounts of Bitcoin), including the biggest names.
Specifically, the Winklevoss twins, famous Bitcoin investors following their lawsuit with Mark Zuckerberg, are currently believed to hold about 70,000 BTC. Tim Draper, a veteran venture capitalist, owns about 30,000 BTC after winning a government auction in 2014.
Meanwhile, Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy, who has turned his company into a Bitcoin repository, is also believed to privately hold about 17,732 BTC.
In total, the three investors mentioned hold about 117,000 BTC, which is only about 1/10 of the amount of Bitcoin in Nakamoto's possession.
In fact, according to data from BiTBO, the total amount of Bitcoin held by all businesses and custodians worldwide is only about 847,000 BTC (equivalent to 4% of Bitcoin's maximum supply), which is even less than the amount held by Nakamoto alone.
According to TradingView, any movement from one of Nakamoto's thousands of Bitcoin wallets could shake the entire global cryptocurrency market.
Challenging the Position of the Richest Person in the World?
Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas believes that if Bitcoin continues to grow at an annual rate of 50%, Nakamoto's wealth could surpass billionaire Warren Buffett this year. Moreover, the 'father' of Bitcoin could surpass Mark Zuckerberg in 2026 to become the second richest person in the world, only after Elon Musk.
Currently, even though Bitcoin has reached a historic peak, Nakamoto's wealth is still quite far from Elon Musk - who is leading the global billionaire rankings with a net worth of approximately 404 billion USD.
To surpass Tesla's CEO, Bitcoin needs to increase by about 208%, meaning each BTC must reach the threshold of 370,000 USD, assuming the asset values of other billionaires do not fluctuate significantly.
This increase may sound far-fetched, but in a market known for its high volatility and sudden breakthroughs like cryptocurrency, such a scenario is not impossible.
Notably, what makes Satoshi Nakamoto's story special, and completely different from other billionaires on the list, is his absolute silence.
"It is astonishing that the founder of something so successful has never withdrawn a single penny of profit," Balchunas commented.
Balchunas compares Nakamoto to investment legend Jack Bogle - the founder of the renowned investment firm The Vanguard Group. He revolutionized the finance industry by creating low-cost index funds, enabling millions to invest effectively.
Although Vanguard manages trillions of USD, Bogle passed away in 2019 with a net worth of only about 80 million USD - a figure that is very small compared to the impact he left behind.
Because he believes his mission is to serve investors, not to enrich himself. This mindset is very similar to how Nakamoto has remained silent and has never 'cashed out' from the empire he has created.
The identity of Nakamoto remains an unsolved mystery. Recent speculation has pointed to Jack Dorsey - co-founder of Twitter - but no verifiable evidence has been presented. Meanwhile, self-proclaimed Satoshis like Craig Wright have been dismissed by the courts.
