Defiant & Dripping: Satoshi Nakamoto Statue Resurfaces from Lake Lugano After Vandalism

Bitcoin's stone-faced founder just took an unplanned swim—but like crypto itself, the icon refuses to stay down.

The dunk heard 'round the cryptoverse

Workers hauled the 300-pound bronze from Lake Lugano's depths this morning, weeks after vandals toppled it from its pedestal. Local authorities call it 'targeted ideological sabotage'—crypto Twitter memed it as 'the most expensive fishing expedition since Mt. Gox.'

Stone cold resilience

The statue's creators vow to reinforce its new base with 'anti-FUD concrete' before reinstalling it. Meanwhile, Bitcoin maximalists are crowdfunding a 24/7 livestream—because nothing says decentralization like paying strangers to guard a hunk of metal.

As the statue drips dry, one hedge fund manager quipped: 'Finally, something in crypto with real liquidity.'

The statue, a centerpiece of Parco Ciani and a physical homage to the decentralized dream, was ripped from its base over Swiss National Day weekend and tossed into the drink by yet-unidentified miscreants.

The statue in bits, recovered from the lake, source: X

According to Satoshigallery, the art collective behind the work, the statue was found in pieces along the lake’s edge. While initial reports suggested it might’ve been stolen, the condition of the statue—mangled, fragmented, and still partially attached to its base—points instead to an act of vandalism, not theft. 

And yet, this wasn’t just any statue. The work, by Italian artist and Bitcoin advocate Valentina Picozzi, took nearly two years to design and complete. It was unveiled in October 2024 and quickly became a cultural landmark—not just for Lugano, but for Bitcoiners worldwide. Built to “disappear” into the landscape—a nod to Nakamoto’s own vanishing act—the statue captured the mystique of Bitcoin’s pseudonymous founder in bronze and steel.

The timing of the vandalism was suspicious. Some in the bitcoin community speculate it was the work of overzealous partiers celebrating Swiss National Day. Others wonder whether it was an anti-crypto statement—or just plain drunken idiocy. Either way, the response from the community was swift and emotional.

“Such a tasteless and stupid thing to do. Hope they find who did it,” tweeted Gabor Gurbacs, founder of Pointsville.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino kept it cryptic, dropping a heart emoji in response to news of the statue’s recovery. Minimalist solidarity, classic crypto Twitter.

But it was Satoshigallery that captured the ethos best:

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

And despite the statue’s battered condition, the spirit behind it is alive and well. In fact, the damage may have only reinforced its mythos. Like Bitcoin itself—attacked, written off, declared dead a hundred times—it keeps coming back. Stronger. Weirder. More valuable.

Satoshigallery reaffirmed their mission to install 21 Satoshi statues around the world—one for each million of Bitcoin’s supply cap. Lugano, which has become an unlikely crypto hub thanks to partnerships with Tether and its “Plan B” initiative, was the first. But it won’t be the last.

So, what have we learned? You can toss Satoshi into the lake. You can break his bronze limbs. But you can’t kill an idea whose time has come—especially one etched into the blockchain and cast in metal.