Satoshi's Secret Donations: Who Is Sending Bitcoins to the Creator of Cryptocurrency and Why
In recent days, on-chain analysts have recorded unusual activity: regular transfers are being sent to wallets attributed to the legendary Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto. The amounts range from modest $10 to over $2,000, but the overall flow has not stopped for a long time. In the last 48 hours alone, more than $5,000 in BTC has been sent from the Revolut platform to addresses that Arkham Intelligence marks as belonging to Satoshi.
Analyzing the transaction chain, I see a clear pattern: the bulk of the funds come from hot wallets on Revolut, Binance, and several private addresses. They all converge on a single recipient labeled "Satoshi Nakamoto: Genesis." Currently, these addresses collectively hold about 1.096 million BTC — approximately $72 billion at the current exchange rate. The largest transfer in the last 24 hours was 0.033 BTC (about $2,170), with the rest noticeably smaller, but the frequency is impressive: Arkham's feed displays 58 pages of history for such transactions.
Why burn bitcoins on Satoshi's wallet?
The motivation of the senders remains a subject of debate, but I highlight three key versions. The first is symbolic: small amounts are sent as a gesture of respect to the creator of Bitcoin, a kind of "digital monument." The second is a pursuit of publicity: a transaction to a public address is visible to everyone and appears in analytics, which could be a tool for self-promotion or even an art project.
However, there is also a purely practical side, which I consider the most significant. By sending bitcoins to Satoshi's wallet, senders effectively burn their coins. The private keys to these addresses appear to be lost or never used, meaning the funds become permanently inaccessible. This is a deliberate act of capital destruction — possibly to reduce the circulating supply of BTC or as a form of protest.
My expert conclusion: This phenomenon is not just a curiosity but a reflection of the community's deep faith in Bitcoin's immutability. By burning coins on Satoshi's address, users voluntarily increase BTC's scarcity, which in the long term could influence its price dynamics. However, it is also a reminder of the fragility of cryptocurrency assets: one mistake in the address, and the funds disappear forever.