Bitcoin Founder Satoshi Nakamoto Moves Up the Wealth Rankings

The mysterious creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, has recently ascended to the 11th spot among the world’s wealthiest individuals, thanks to a dramatic rise in Bitcoin’s value.

At its recent peak, Bitcoin reached a record high of $122,000, boosting Nakamoto’s estimated net worth to over $134 billion. Despite remaining anonymous and having never made a public appearance or moved Bitcoin from his wallets, this surge in value has allowed Nakamoto to surpass many well-known billionaires such as Michael Dell and Rob Walton.

Owning Ten Times More Bitcoin Than Market Whales

Blockchain analysis suggests Nakamoto controls roughly 1.096 million Bitcoins, spread across thousands of wallets created in Bitcoin’s early days. These wallets have been inactive for years, some since 2011, making Nakamoto’s holdings far greater than those of the largest individual Bitcoin holders (whales), like the Winklevoss brothers, who hold approximately 70,000 BTC, or venture capitalist Tim Draper with about 30,000 BTC.

MicroStrategy’s CEO, Michael Saylor, owns around 17,732 BTC. Combined, these major investors own about 117,000 BTC—less than one-tenth of Nakamoto’s stash.

Overall, less than 4% of Bitcoin’s total supply, approximately 847,000 BTC, is held by corporations and custodians, still far less than Nakamoto’s holdings. Any movement from Nakamoto’s numerous wallets could significantly impact the global cryptocurrency market.

Potential to Surpass the World’s Richest

Experts suggest that if Bitcoin continues to grow by about 50% annually, Nakamoto’s wealth could exceed Warren Buffett’s this year. In the future, Nakamoto might even overtake Mark Zuckerberg by 2026 to become the second-richest person globally, after Elon Musk.

However, reaching Musk’s estimated $404 billion would require Bitcoin to hit approximately $370,000 per coin—a 208% increase from current levels. While ambitious, such a jump isn’t impossible given cryptocurrency market volatility.

Nakamoto’s story remains remarkable not only because of his wealth but due to his anonymity. Unlike many billionaires, he has never benefited financially from his creation, which earned him comparisons to investment pioneer Jack Bogle, who founded Vanguard with a philosophy of serving investors rather than personal profit.

Though various figures have been speculated as Nakamoto—including Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey—none have been definitively proven to be him, and claims by others like Craig Wright have been dismissed by courts.