[ryandvm]

The obvious answer is Satoshi Nakamoto is functionally dead.

His wallet would be worth around $70 billion dollars today and he hasn't touched it in over a decade.

Either he is A) dead, B) lost the wallet and wishes he were dead, or C) has achieved such spiritual enlightenment that has no interest in the personal or societal impact that $70 billion dollars could have.

He is not coming back folks, and even if we figure out who he was, that $70 billion is gone.

[fny]

The $70 billion is not gone. He would need to sell his Bitcoin to others to amass $70 billion. Whatever impact $70B dollars could have is already happening: the difference is that it’s not his impact.

[astrange]

> lost the wallet and wishes he were dead

At least it's a good tax write-off. (Well… $3000 a year for life in the US iirc.)

[shepherdjerred]

What’s stopping me from claiming I had this (or any other) wallet and getting the write off?

[astrange]

Audits, same as anything else.

[shepherdjerred]

What I mean is how would I prove that I once possessed the key to a wallet?

[lurn_mor]

Why, are you taking notes on how to perform a criminal conspiracy?

[real_satoshi]

Much like Elon Musk couldn't liquidate his stocks and wind up a billionaire, my bitcoin is nowhere nearly worth $70B. I won't tell you my estimate, but I will say that it's quite modest by comparison.

Do you think the world really has $70B in cash to blow on bitcoin right now? Big players mine the stuff, they don't buy it.