Where’s Satoshi? Statue of Bitcoin creator gets stolen, smashed, and lake-dumped in Lugano

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A life-sized statue of Bitcoin’s mysterious creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, disappeared from Parco Ciani Park in Lugano, as reported by X user Gritto this morning.

Hey @paoloardoino where has Satoshi’s statue gone?! pic.twitter.com/fqxY3H7sT9

— Gritto (@Grittoshi) August 2, 2025

Gritto, who visited the park and captured photos, said the statue was still in place on the night of August 1st. At the time, the area was bustling with activity due to Swiss National Day festivities, and nearby cafés filled with celebrants.

He theorized that a group of partygoers, intoxicated and passing through after the celebrations, might have decided to “have fun” with the statue on their way home. The statue’s disappearance was believed to have occurred sometime that night.

Gritto’s photos show a portion of the statue still attached to the base and the metal nameplate engraved with “Satoshi Nakamoto,” along with the artist’s name, Valentina Picozzi.

“There are cameras everywhere in the city so i assume, they just threw it inside the lake beside, before going home,” Gritto suggested. “No way, they could have carried it unnoticed in the city. So my opinion: it is in the lake, just beside its previous location.”

Statue of Bitcoin creator discovered broken in a nearby lake

After the theft surfaced, Picozzi’s Satoshigallery announced a 0.1 BTC reward for leads on the statue’s recovery. The team also confirmed it would proceed with plans to install identical statues in 21 locations worldwide.

Where is Satoshi?

We are offering 0.1 btc to whoever will help us recovering the Statue of Satoshi Nakamoto that was stolen yesterday in Lugano.

You can steal our symbol but you will never be able to steal our souls.

Thank you all for the nice messages.

We are all in this… https://t.co/cAGCqg4CuP pic.twitter.com/iGrBOdVYhe

— Satoshigallery (@satoshigallery) August 3, 2025

A number of users on X claimed the statue was recovered from a nearby lake, damaged and incomplete.

The Satoshi statue was recovered in nearby Lake Lugano https://t.co/6ysO1UZi0w pic.twitter.com/l6CZ62rS5S

— k3ycrypto (@k3ycrypto) August 3, 2025

Someone (paper hand) last night stole and broke the Satoshi Nakamoto statue in Lugano. Later found in the lake close to the place. 💥

But no worries, the Lugano Plan B community is already investigating. 🇨🇭💊

Lugano is well known as a safe and friendly place, except some stupid… pic.twitter.com/qf8FSeaLJB

— Aron Clementi 🚀 (ElysiumLab) (@Aron_Clem) August 3, 2025

Statue was vandalised and thrown in the lake. Authorities are now recovering it and will bring it to a safe place….just sad to see how people have fun these days hope they’ll get caught and given the punishment they deserve. pic.twitter.com/SXe9Rup714

— Namaskaram_Luca 🙏🏽 (@MilanRealTV) August 3, 2025

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