The net worth of pseudonymous Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto has plunged by $20 billion, according to analytics platform Arkham.
Despite the drop, he remains richer than Walmart heiress Alice Walton and Bloomberg L.P. co-founder Michael Bloomberg.
Earlier this Friday, the price of the leading cryptocurrency careened to an intraday low of $103,856 before paring most of its losses.
Satoshi's mysterious fortune
Satoshi's Bitcoin riches were uncovered because of blockchain researcher Sergio Demian Lerner, who discovered that a single miner produced roughly 1.1 million BTC during the very first year of the cryptocurrency's existence. The blocks had a unique "nonce" pattern that made it possible to estimate Satoshi's total holdings.
Despite ancient whales regularly waking up from hibernation, Satoshi's tokens have remained untouched.
However, it is not certain that Satoshi continues to hold the tokens in question, given that some believe that the Bitcoin creator is no longer alive. The private keys that provide access to the vast BTC wealth might be gone forever if that is the case.
Richest billionaires
Satoshi's net worth briefly climbed above $130 billion at the beginning of the month when Bitcoin rallied to its current all-time high $126,080
The Forbes list of the wealthiest billionaires includes Elon Musk, Larry Ellison, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Larry Page, among other big names.
Earlier, there was some speculation about whether or not Satoshi could becom the first trillionaire due to rapid Bitcoin price appreciation.
That said, Musk is already halfway there, with his net worth recently surpassing $500 billion.
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov
U.Today Editorial Team