1.1 Million Bitcoin: The Genesis Blocks That Never Moved
The Creator
On 3 January 2009, a person or group using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto launched the Bitcoin network by mining the genesis block. The embedded message — a headline from The Times about bank bailouts — signalled the philosophical motivation behind the project: a decentralised currency free from institutional control.
Over the following year, Satoshi mined extensively. The network was small and participation was thin, so Satoshi’s mining hardware dominated block production. By the time other miners began contributing meaningfully, Satoshi had accumulated a vast quantity of Bitcoin.
The Patoshi Pattern
In 2013, researcher Sergio Demian Lerner published an analysis identifying a distinctive pattern in the early blockchain data. Blocks mined by what appeared to be a single entity showed a consistent, identifiable signature in their nonce values — the random numbers used during the mining process. This pattern, dubbed the “Patoshi pattern,” was attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto.
Lerner’s analysis estimated that the Patoshi miner accumulated approximately 1.1 million BTC across roughly 22,000 blocks during Bitcoin’s first year. At current prices, this represents tens of billions of pounds — one of the largest single holdings of any asset by any individual in history.
The striking feature of these coins is not their quantity but their stillness. Not a single satoshi from the Patoshi blocks has ever been moved. The wallets sit on the blockchain, visible to anyone, untouched since the day they were mined.
The Disappearance
Satoshi Nakamoto’s involvement with Bitcoin gradually diminished over 2010. Communications on forums and mailing lists became less frequent. In April 2011, Satoshi sent a final known email to a developer, stating they had “moved on to other things.” Then silence.
No public statement. No farewell. No transfer of the coins. The creator of Bitcoin simply vanished, leaving behind the most valuable unclaimed fortune in the history of money.
The Theories
The identity of Satoshi Nakamoto has been the subject of relentless speculation. Candidates have included cryptographers, academics, and software engineers from around the world. Several individuals have been publicly accused or have claimed the identity, but none has ever proven it by signing a message with Satoshi’s known cryptographic keys — the one test that would be definitive.
The question of whether Satoshi is alive or dead is equally unresolved. If alive, the decision not to spend any Bitcoin represents extraordinary restraint — or perhaps a principled commitment to the project’s decentralised ethos. If dead, the coins are lost forever, functionally removed from Bitcoin’s circulating supply.
Some researchers have speculated that Satoshi may have deliberately destroyed or discarded the private keys to remove the temptation and prevent any single entity from having undue influence over the network. This theory is consistent with Satoshi’s philosophical writings but impossible to verify.
The Impact
Satoshi’s dormant coins have a profound effect on Bitcoin’s economics. If 1.1 million BTC are permanently removed from circulation, the effective supply of Bitcoin is significantly smaller than the theoretical maximum of 21 million. This built-in scarcity — whether intentional or accidental — contributes to Bitcoin’s value proposition.
The coins also serve as a kind of dead man’s switch for the network’s credibility. If they ever move, it would trigger the largest market event in cryptocurrency history. Every wallet tracker on earth monitors Satoshi’s addresses. The day those coins move — if they ever do — the world will know within minutes.
Lessons
Satoshi’s story is unique in the graveyard. It may not be a loss at all — it may be the most disciplined act of monetary self-denial in history. But it illustrates a fundamental truth about Bitcoin: wealth on the blockchain is only wealth if someone holds the keys. Without access, one million Bitcoin and zero Bitcoin are functionally identical.
“The creator of money that can’t be seized created a fortune that can’t be spent.”
Related Reading
- Lost Bitcoin Statistics — Satoshi’s coins make up the single largest block of inaccessible Bitcoin.
- What Happens to Bitcoin When You Die? — The inheritance question at the heart of every dormant wallet.
- Forgotten Wallets: Millions Lost — The other early wallets that went dormant alongside Satoshi’s.
- Individual X: 69,370 BTC Seized — Another massive dormant wallet, but with a very different ending.
- Laszlo Hanyecz: 10,000 BTC for Pizza — Bitcoin’s earliest days, when coins were worth fractions of a penny.