Residents of Lugano woke up one morning to find that the famous statue of Bitcoin’s anonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, had vanished. Created by Italian artist Valentina Picozzi, the artwork, which presents an illusion of a disappearing silhouette, had been unveiled at the Plan B Bitcoin 
$0.002424 forum on October 25, 2024, becoming a symbol of the city’s cryptocurrency identity. The theft was first reported by X user Grittoshi, and the art collective SatoshiGallery put up a reward of 0.1 BTC for information about the statue. The incident occurred shortly after the project debuted its third Satoshi Nakamoto statue in Tokyo last week.
The Mystery Behind the Disappearance
There was no footage captured on security cameras overnight, but it was discovered that the steel plates anchoring the statue to the ground at Piazza Indipendenza had been dismantled. The striped structure of the statue was designed to show Satoshi Nakamoto’s silhouette blending into the “code” when viewed from a certain angle, but now only bare concrete remains at the site. While city officials have not issued an official statement, social media images showed that the statue’s location was still empty in the morning.
After the alleged theft, user Grittoshi speculated that the statue might have been dumped into the nearby Lake Ceresio, a claim supported by photographs. However, despite the rapid spread of these posts, volunteer divers found no trace underwater. The local police are considering a search of the lakebed, but no concrete conclusions have been reached so far.
Offering 0.1 BTC as a Reward
The SatoshiGallery account rallied the community with the message, “You can steal our symbol, but never our spirit,” offering a reward of 0.1 BTC for information leading to the statue’s recovery. This announcement encouraged a wide range of participants, from collectors to locals, to join the search efforts. Although the value of the reward changes with Bitcoin’s price, it currently equates to approximately $11,262.
The project team clarified that the loss in Lugano hasn’t deterred them; instead, it has strengthened their resolve to erect Satoshi Nakamoto statues in 21 different countries. In 2024, the city administration had positioned Lugano as a cryptocurrency hub through the “Plan B” initiative, launched in partnership with Swiss-Tether. The missing statue was a key icon of this vision. The rediscovery or reconstruction of the statue is seen as a significant measure of the city’s ongoing efforts to maintain its burgeoning crypto brand.
