Satoshi Nakamoto Statue Found Shattered in Lake Lugano

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Missing Satoshi Nakamoto Statue Found Shattered in Lake Lugano

Written by Aaron S.,

Editor-In-Chief

Last Updated: August 05, 2025

Key Takeaways

City workers recovered a vandalized Satoshi statue from Lake Lugano on August 4 after it was found missing from Parco Ciani;
Satoshigallery offered a 0.1 BTC reward, while a petition was launched to restore the statue at no cost to the city;
The faceless steel figure, created by artist Valentina Picozzi, took 21 months to build and was first unveiled in October 2024.

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Missing Satoshi Nakamoto Statue Found Shattered in Lake Lugano

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City workers in Lugano, Switzerland, recovered broken parts of a statue meant to honor Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s BTC $90,614.80 creator, on August 4.

The statue, once placed in Parco Ciani by the lake, had been thrown into the water over the weekend.

The missing statue was first noticed on August 2 by people walking through the park. It had been removed from its spot and broken into pieces.

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Some fragments were found in Lake Lugano, while others had washed up on the shore.

After the discovery, Satoshigallery, the group behind the project, offered a reward of 0.1 BTC, worth over $11,000, for any information that could help recover it.

One theory shared by a user on X suggested the statue might have been damaged by people out celebrating Swiss National Day.

The statue, crafted from stainless steel and corten steel blocks, depicted a seated figure without a face, typing on a laptop. It was first revealed in October 2024 during a blockchain event co-hosted by the city of Lugano and the stablecoin company Tether USDT $1.00 .

Artist Valentina Picozzi, who designed the piece, said it took 21 months to complete.

A petition has been started to ask the city to repair and reinstall the statue. The people behind the campaign have said they are willing to pay for the costs themselves.

Meanwhile, the host of the What Bitcoin Did podcast, Peter McCormack, recently funded private security patrols in his hometown of Bedford, UK. Why? Read the full story.