The theoretical fortune of Bitcoin’s anonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, has plummeted by nearly $48 billion in just six weeks, starkly illustrating the cryptocurrency’s extreme market volatility.
Nakamoto’s estimated Bitcoin holdings, valued at over $138 billion last month, have fallen to approximately $90 billion. This drop represents a nearly 35% decrease in paper wealth.
The significant decline follows a broader cryptocurrency market correction that saw Bitcoin’s price plunge below $81,000 this week. The asset briefly touched a seven-month low of $80,880.
This market downturn has erased significant recent gains, with over $1 trillion vanishing from the global cryptocurrency market.
The mysterious creator is estimated to possess about 1.1 million bitcoins. These digital assets were mined during Bitcoin’s nascent stages between 2009 and 2010.
Nakamoto’s identity remains unknown, and the creator famously disappeared from public online forums in 2011. The 1.1 million bitcoins have remained untouched for over a decade, never moving from their original wallets.
Just last month, when Bitcoin soared to an all-time high of $126,000, Nakamoto’s theoretical fortune peaked at more than $138 billion. At that valuation, Nakamoto’s wealth surpassed the estimated $117 billion fortune of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
Bitcoin shows signs of recovery as of the latest market data. It is currently trading around $86,700, marking a 2.7% increase in the past 24 hours.
Despite this recent uptick, Bitcoin still registers a nearly 10% loss for the week. At the current price, Nakamoto’s fortune is valued at approximately $95.37 billion, remaining a substantial, albeit theoretical, sum for assets that have lain dormant.