The story of the Satoshi Monument in Prague

Satoshi Nakamoto is the pseudonym of the author (or authors) of Bitcoin. In 2008 they published a whitepaper describing a peer-to-peer electronic cash system without a central authority; a year later they launched the network, and in January 2009 mined the first block. Then they disappeared. Nobody knows who Satoshi really is — and maybe that's how it should be. Bitcoin was designed from the start to not need its creator; to run on its own, without anyone able to stop, censor or manipulate it. Satoshi's anonymity is part of the idea. And yet — or precisely because of that — they deserve a monument. Not to be glorified as a hero, but so that everyone who walks by can ask: Who was it? And what did they actually create?

Prague isn't just a city that adopted Bitcoin. Prague is a city that helped create it. Born here:

• ●Trezor — the world's first hardware wallet
• ●Slush Pool — the first bitcoin mining pool (now Braiins)
• ●General Bytes — a global leader in bitcoin ATMs
• ●Paralelní Polis — a world-renowned center of bitcoin culture
• ●BTC Prague — the largest bitcoin conference in Europe

Prague didn't just watch. It was there when Bitcoin was being born.

The statue is the work of Italian artist Valentina Picozzi, who specializes in public sculpture — working with metal, layering, identity and anonymity. She is the author of the original Satoshi Nakamoto monument, first installed in Lugano, Switzerland. The statue is part of a limited series of 21 installations of the Satoshi Gallery project; the number 21 refers to the maximum of 21 million bitcoins that will ever exist. Prague will join cities like Lugano, Tokyo and El Zonte.

The statue plays with the viewer's movement. From one spot a figure with a laptop emerges; from another the motif breaks into lines and vanishes. It isn't just aesthetics — it's a metaphor: Satoshi never fully revealed themselves, and yet their work is here, visible to anyone who looks from the right angle. A symbol of individual freedom, open code and decentralization.

The monument in Prague wasn't born from a city-hall decision or corporate sponsorship. It exists because the Czech and international bitcoin community chipped in — voluntarily, transparently and in bitcoin. The project was organized by Jednadvacet.org together with the community. Below is the complete list of everyone who contributed — from the largest contribution to the smallest. Every name is part of the story.