Written by: Thejaswini
Translated by: Plain Blockchain
Dear Satoshi Nakamoto,
Since you disappeared from the digital world 15 years ago, leaving behind the biggest mystery in the financial world: hundreds of thousands, perhaps over a million Bitcoins, untouched and unused.
These Bitcoins are incredibly valuable and are considered by many to be the world's largest unclaimed digital heritage.
I am writing this letter not to inquire about who you are or where you went. I am writing because your Bitcoins are about to become the ultimate test case for digital "resurrection," and the outcome may not be what you desired.
Neighbors in the Digital Graveyard
Satoshi Nakamoto, you are not the only one in the crypto "afterlife". Conservatively estimated, 3 to 4 million Bitcoins have permanently fallen into the digital tomb. Forgotten keys, damaged hard drives, and those who took their secrets to their actual graves.
James Howells spent ten years searching for his 8,000 Bitcoins in 110,000 tons of garbage in Wales. Stefan Thomas has only two password attempt chances left, or he will forever lose access to 7,002 Bitcoins.
There are also hardware graveyards. Hard drives crash, USB drives get lost, computers are discarded. The 2017 Parity wallet vulnerability accidentally froze over 500,000 ETH, demonstrating how software errors can instantly create digital tombs. The collapse of the Mt.Gox trading platform left 850,000 Bitcoins still being contested by creditors, the most famous exchange theft in history.
But your approximately 1 million Bitcoins far exceed all of these. This is the ultimate digital tomb frozen since Bitcoin's inception.
Others lost their Bitcoins through negligence or disaster, while you chose to let them sleep. Every day you do not move them, the world debates whether you have died, been detained, or are silently observing your creation.
Quantum Tomb Raiders Approaching
Satoshi Nakamoto, I must tell you something that might disturb you: your Bitcoins are in danger.
Quantum computers might crack them in a few years, or even sooner. Experts estimate that 25% of Bitcoins—over 4 million—are stored in quantum-vulnerable addresses. Your Bitcoins are among the most exposed.
Bitcoin's creator might become one of the most notable victims of quantum computing in the cryptocurrency realm.
While you remain silent, the Bitcoin development community is racing to build quantum defenses. BIP-360 proposed quantum-resistant addresses. Teams are exploring reactivating OP_CAT and integrating STARK technology. They are forging the armor needed for your creation. However, as of June 2025, there is no formal BIP proposal for widely adopted quantum-resistant addresses.
If quantum computers crack your address, the Bitcoin community will be powerless, and you know this. There is no emergency button, no administrator key, no way to freeze or destroy Bitcoins. Your Bitcoins will remain quantum-vulnerable until you transfer them to a safe address, or quantum computers "transfer" them for you.
Modern inheritance technologies could have prevented most Bitcoin losses, but they cannot revive existing digital "corpses". Platforms like Sarcophagus offer "dead man's switches" that can release wallet information to beneficiaries. Casa provides multi-signature inheritance planning.
But these solutions require advance planning. They cannot retroactively recover already lost Bitcoins. For the millions of Bitcoins already in the digital tomb, inheritance technologies offer no redemption.
Your situation is unique. Your Bitcoins are not strictly lost, just dormant. If you are still alive and have access, you can move them at any time. This uncertainty makes your Bitcoins the most psychologically significant asset in existence.
Legal Excavation Attempts?
Courts are mostly powerless when facing the finality of cryptography. James Howells' 600 million pound claim against Newport City Council was dismissed. Stefan Thomas cannot force anyone to crack his IronKey encryption.
The law recognizes Bitcoin as property, but worldwide, property without a key equals inaccessible property. Courts can issue many orders, but they cannot command mathematics to submit.
However, your case is different. If someone claims to be you or your heir, they must prove their identity by moving your Bitcoins. This is the ultimate identity verification.
Economic Earthquake
Satoshi Nakamoto, your dormant Bitcoins are more than just digital archaeology.
Lost Bitcoins create artificial scarcity. Your approximately 1 million Bitcoins, plus other permanently lost millions, effectively lower Bitcoin's supply below 21 million. This scarcity supports higher prices for remaining Bitcoins.
If your Bitcoins suddenly return to circulation—through quantum recovery, legal proceedings, or your own return—it would trigger a massive supply shock.
Yes, moving your Bitcoins would not technically increase supply, as they already exist in the ledger. But moving Bitcoins dormant for 15 years would cause enormous psychological and market tremors.
Bitcoin's scarcity narrative partly depends on the assumption that "lost Bitcoins will forever remain lost". Your "resurrection" would fundamentally alter investors' perception of Bitcoin's long-term value.
Despite various "resurrection" pathways, the most likely outcome is that your Bitcoins will remain unchanged: visible on the blockchain, but never moving.
Whether due to your choice, death, or loss of access, your Bitcoins have become Bitcoin's most powerful symbol. They represent the eternity of crypto's promise and the mystery of digital identity.
Moving them would answer questions the community might not want to know. Remaining dormant preserves the mythical quality that makes Bitcoin more than an ordinary payment system.
Your Choice, Satoshi Nakamoto
So, I want to ask: What do you plan to do?
If you are still alive and observing, you might have five more years until quantum computers become a real threat. You could transfer Bitcoins to quantum-resistant addresses, proving you are still active without exposing your identity.
If you are no longer alive, your Bitcoins face an uncertain fate. Quantum raiders, community destruction, or eternal dormancy—none of these are your choices.
If "Satoshi Nakamoto" was never an individual but a collective or institution, perhaps these Bitcoins were always meant to remain permanently untouchable—the ultimate demonstration of Bitcoin's deflationary nature.
The Bitcoin community is discussing whether to destroy or protect your Bitcoins, but without your intent, they cannot decide. Are you an individual with digital property rights, or a pseudonym whose assets have become public property?
Your Bitcoins are Bitcoin's greatest governance test. Not because they are quantum-vulnerable—that problem can be solved. But because your mysterious absence forces the community to decide Bitcoin's responsibility to an absent creator, and whether true decentralization means letting mathematics run its course, even if it involves your wealth.
Quantum computers are coming. Tomb raiders are preparing. The community is watching.
After 15 years of silence, perhaps it's time to say something.
