Author: Bright, Foresight News
On August 3, according to Bitcoin News, a statue of Satoshi Nakamoto in Lugano, Switzerland was stolen, and the statue's planner, Satoshigallery, is offering a reward of 0.1 BTC for information leading to the recovery of the stolen statue. This immediately drew attention from the crypto industry.
This is quite baffling, as the existence of Satoshi Nakamoto is still a matter of debate; who would vandalize a symbol that has yet to correspond to a tangible person?
Initially, X user @Grittoshi was the first to report the theft, noting that only two holes remained on the metal pedestal where the Satoshi statue once stood. He suspected that someone had thrown the sculpture into the lake next to it.
Subsequently, Satoshigallery posted on X: "We are offering a reward of 0.1 Bitcoin for anyone who can help us recover the Satoshi statue stolen yesterday in Lugano. You can steal our symbol, but you can never steal our soul. We are in this together, committed to placing this statue in 21 locations around the world."
Just a week prior, Satoshigallery had unveiled the third Satoshi statue in Tokyo, Japan. Besides the stolen statue in Lugano, another Satoshi statue stands on the beach in El Salvador, known as the "Bitcoin Country."
Japan, Tokyo
El Salvador, Bitcoin Beach
Fortunately, within a day, the Lugano city government recovered the missing Satoshi statue from the nearby lake. Satoshigallery announced on the X platform that the Satoshi sculpture had been found and expressed gratitude to the Lugano city government.
"The Disappearing Satoshi" statue has vanished, which is a metaphorical irony.
On October 25, 2024, the city of Lugano, Switzerland unveiled a statue commemorating the anonymous creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, in Ciani Park (Villa Ciani). The event was hosted by Tether in collaboration with the Plan B initiative of the city of Lugano. At that time, Tether and Lugano were working together to transform the city into a global Bitcoin hub.
The stolen modern-style statue was designed by Valentina Picozzi, the head of Satoshigallery, and took 18 months of research and design, followed by 3 months of construction. The statue is made of vertical stainless steel and weathering steel layers, and when viewed from a specific angle, its face seems to disappear. This illusion symbolizes the anonymous origins of Bitcoin and the universal identity of Satoshi Nakamoto.
Immediately, a group of Lugano residents launched a public petition on Change.org. The petition requests the city government to provide logistical and security support to restore the artwork. The artist has pledged to rebuild it at her own expense and provide related services, while Satoshigallery has also expressed willingness to create and donate a new copy at their own cost. They stated, "We must protect the symbol of innovation and freedom."
"This work represents more than just a statue," said Luca Esposito, a spokesperson for the petitioning group, which also organized the "Satoshi Spritz Lugano"—a Bitcoin information event open to the public. "We are not asking the city government for any financial support," Luca Esposito emphasized, "we are only committed to providing logistical support for the restoration work and collaborating with the artist to find a suitable, permanent, and secure location." It is reported that the Satoshi Spritz movement in Lugano is a grassroots organization dedicated to spreading knowledge, values, and principles related to Bitcoin through organizing gatherings, educational courses, and outreach activities, especially targeting young people.
He added, "Like Bitcoin, it symbolizes personal freedom, financial independence, and privacy rights—values deeply rooted in Swiss traditional principles, not just technological innovation."
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
