How do you construct a statue in the image of someone who has intentionally kept their identity anonymous for their entire existence?
The answer to this question has been revealed at the unveiling of the Satoshi Nakamoto statue in Budapest, Hungary where a life-sized bronze bust of Bitcoin’s creator Satoshi Nakamoto has been erected.
Though there have been countless speculations regarding Satoshi’s identity since the October 31st publication of the Bitcoin white paper almost 13 years ago and the subsequent creation of Bitcoin’s Genesis Block, no one has come close to revealing who Bitcoin’s creator is.
The concept, which was the work of Hungarian sculptors Réka Gergely and Tamás Gilly portrays Satoshi as a hooded figure whose facial features are obscured by a bronze and aluminum alloy heavily polished to reflect the faces of anyone who comes close enough, emphasizing Nakamoto’s unknown identity.
Regardless of Satoshi’s true identity, András Győrfi, the event’s co-founder and Bitcoin advocate believes that a new chapter in the history of the internet was opened with Nakamoto’s invention of digital currency with blockchain technology being a significant contribution to the world.
Here’s what he had to say about today’s event:
On creating a Satoshi Satoshi statue
I truly believe as a journalist working in this field that Bitcoin, and especially, the blockchain has a huge significance, and we’re only scratching the surface in what Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies and especially the blockchain can do in all sorts of fields. I’ve mentioned art, logistics, finance and the list goes on and on, science and beyond. So Bitcoin itself, yes, extremely important. Cryptocurrencies, yes, very important. It’s going to be huge. Trillions of dollars, I believe. But the blockchain is our main focus, the blockchain as a general use technology for various fields.
This is why he deserves a statute.
On choosing the location, Graphisoft Park
Graphisoft was the first company in the world in the 1980s to use computers for architectural design. It was a huge, huge thing. Even Steve jobs invested in them. He has a statue, not far from here. Mr Gábor Bojár, the founder of Graphisoft, built these office buildings and this [campus] as a startup hub. So this is a cradle for innovation. It’s not only beautiful. It’s very inspiring. A lot of young people, a lot of great ideas, so this is perfect. It wasn’t easy to find a location, but we found this and they welcomed us with open arms and we truly believe that this is the perfect location, not only because of the beauty of this place, but what it represents.
On placing the Statue close to Steve Jobs’ Sculpture
Both of them are idols of the global IT industry; very different fields, probably very different personalities, different goals, but they’re both idols. They both fit into a hand full of icons of the tech industry with Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison and the list goes on.
On Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity
It doesn’t matter. His gender, his race, his age, his nationality. It doesn’t matter. We are all Satoshi.
On Wasabi Wallet
I believe that the technology is advanced behind Wasabi and I think Wasabi is one of those companies of the crypto industry that are trying to push the envelope…
Wasabi represents the attitude that every crypto company should have, that we don’t want to make millions of dollars in two weeks, we want to create a product that advances the technology.
The biggest takeaway from today’s event
You never know where your ideas are gonna take you and what your ideas can grow into. The best example is the statute itself. As I said, I was sitting there and on a rainy afternoon I had this idea and in my first [and even] my second thought was, ah, okay, who cares? But then I told one of my colleagues, then another colleague, then I called one of the sponsors and another one. And everybody, everybody threw in a great idea. For example, Gabriela Debrecen from Mr Coin, the first Hungarian cryptocurrency exchange. She told me that Satoshi has to wear a hoodie. I wanted those old fashion hats from the 1920s and to put a Bitcoin logo on the edge of the, or the rim at the hat, Gabriela told me, “that’s crazy!”
If you have an idea, then, go for it. Not all ideas are going to work out. Of course, I failed in a lot of things, but sometimes, you’re going to succeed.
Thank you András Győrfi for taking our interview and thank you for making the first state of Satoshi Nakamoto happen.
