Could Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto become richer than Elon Musk? Could Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto become richer than Elon Musk?
The Bitcoin creator is currently the 26th richest person based on his BTC holdings.
2 min read
Updated: Feb. 27, 2024 at 1:13 am UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
Bitcoin‘s pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, is currently the 26th richest human being on the planet based on the amount of BTC he is presumed to have owned.
Nakamoto famously holds a little over $1 million Bitcoin in a wallet that has been dormant for more than a decade, which is also the primary reason many believe he may have died.
Based on Bitcoin’s $54,000 price, his holdings are worth roughly $50 billion as of Feb. 26.
Meanwhile, some estimates suggest that Nakamoto holds 1.1 million BTC, which would push him closer to $60 billion.
Nakamoto could dethrone Bernard Arnault
The surge in Bitcoin’s price to near-all-time highs has caused some to speculate whether the richest person in the world could be an anonymous, unknown person.
For Nakamoto to overtake the likes of Bernard Arnault and Elon Musk, Bitcoin would have to increase nearly 4x from its current price of $55,000 or 3x from its previous all-time high of $69,000.
Preston Pysh, co-founder of TIP, observed the possibility in an X post, writing:
“It’ll be interesting if the wealthiest person in the world is unknown [ie. Satoshi Nakamoto]. At about $212k per Bitcoin, it happens.”
At a price of $212,000, Nakamoto’s Bitcoin holdings would be worth $233.2 billion, allowing him to overtake Bernard Arnault and his family’s net worth of $229.1 billion.
Further calculations show that BTC hitting $208,300 would be sufficient for Nakamoto to overtake the top spot on the list by a narrower margin. Meanwhile, Bitcoin would need to be worth $189,700 for Nakamoto to become richer than Musk in second place.
Meanwhile, Amazon founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos’ third place would be usurped at $178,000, while Mark Zuckerberg‘s fourth place spot and Bill Gates’ seventh would be overtaken once BTC hits $154,200 and $115,900, respectively.
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Author 
Mike Dalton
Before transitioning to crypto writing in 2018, Mike studied library and information sciences. Currently, he resides on Canada's West Coast.
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Bitcoin, a decentralized currency that defies the sway of central banks or administrators, transacts electronically, circumventing intermediaries via a peer-to-peer network.
South African-born Elon Musk has founded several companies, including X.com (which later became PayPal), SpaceX and Tesla Motors.
Mark Elliot Zuckerberg is an American programmer, Internet entrepreneur, executive, and philanthropist.
