Imagine this…

Tomorrow morning, a message appears. It comes from one of the original Bitcoin wallets. A 2009-era, prototype, just-a-thought-experiment wallet. One item of an untouched, seemingly abandoned fortune. The digital equivalent of a sealed tomb.

The signature verifies. Is it him? Well, it must be, right? Satoshi Nakamoto is alive. And he just moved coins.

THIS WALLET! Note how it gets tributes all the time

What do you think would happen?

Most people would say the market would react. I disagree. The market would not react. It would convulse, because Bitcoin is not just an asset. It’s a belief system, a quasi-religion. And the missing, never-identified, forever absent Satoshi is its origin myth. For many, Satoshi’s disappearance is sacred: no leader. No central authority. No human to make mistakes, invite corruption, destroy privacy, establish central authority. Would he sell? Buy? Do nothing? Obviously, all of these would move markets. But here’s the more interesting question:

What would he say?

Bitcoin was released in the shadow of the 2008 financial crisis. It was a reaction to centralized banking power. If Satoshi returned today, he would be entering a world shaped by AI, state digital currencies, biometric identity systems, and algorithmic surveillance. Would he double down on decentralization? Or would he argue that the experiment has drifted from its intent? Did he forsee his creation being used for a vast and horrifying array of criminal activites? Is he okay with that? Just part of the trade-off, you know, free will and whatnot? Or a reason to put the brakes on the whole thing?

A founder who reenters the story rewrites the script. The return of a real, live human would break the myth. Bitcoin purists might celebrate. Others would see betrayal. The mystique depended on absence. Satoshi’s re-emergence changes the myth. The myth that Bitcoin had a Creator. Maybe, instead, it had a creator. But everyone would want to know: does Satoshi have any new ideas? You know, to solve the madness we live in today, which makes 2008 look quaint and simple?

That’s him, in the back

These questions fascinate me and is at the heart of the next book I’m writing. Who would claim him? Who would weaponize his return? In short, where does the power go? And why? This, to me, goes to the heart of the belief systems we create as humans and the power we allow them to have over us. Money is but one belief system, of course. But it an incredibly powerful one. And blank-faced, all-giving, superhuman Satoshi is a poweful messiah, up there in the heavens, gifting the world Bitcoin, asking nothing in return.

What would happen if he came to earth? I’d love your thoughts! Add them below or email me & we can discuss!