In a surprising and unexpected twist for the crypto community, new reports suggest that the statue of Satoshi Nakamoto, erected in Lugano, Switzerland, has gone missing.
In an homage to innovation, Plan B, an initiative founded in partnership with Tether and the City of Lugano, unveiled a life-sized statue of Satoshi Nakamoto at the 3rd Annual Plan B Forum in Lugano last October.
Now, reports and pictures circulating on social media suggest that the statue is no longer at its known location, prompting speculation that the monument might have been stolen or deliberately removed.
Bitcoin pioneer and Blockstream CEO Adam Back commented on X on the recent development, responding with a tongue-in-cheek remark and sparking humor in the crypto community. “Satoshi disappeared. Again,” Back wrote.
Satoshi disappeared. Again!
— Adam Back (@adam3us) August 2, 2025
Bitcoin’s pseudonymous founder, Satoshi Nakamoto, exited the scene in 2011, never to be seen or heard from again.
On April 26, 2011, Satoshi sent his final emails to fellow developers stating that he had “moved on to other things” while also handing over the cryptographic key used to send network-wide alerts.
Satoshi’s legacy stands
The Satoshi statue in Lugano remains one of the few others erected in different places around the world.
In May, a statue honoring Satoshi Nakamoto was unveiled in the town of Fornelli, Italy. The statue, fully funded by the municipality, followed a previous Satoshi statue in Tokyo.
Recently, the crypto community marked 15 years of Satoshi’s legendary quote, “If you dont believe me or dont get it, i dont have time to try to convince you, sorry,” which was said when Bitcoin was just $0.07.
Fast forward to the present, Bitcoin price trades in six figures, currently at $113,583, and has entered mainstream, with expanding institutional adoption.