Budapest

Budapest is set to erect a life-size bronze statue depicting Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto. The face features a reflective surface that symbolizes the unknown identity of Satoshi.

Bitcoin’s anonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto is set to be depicted in a life-size bronze statue in Budapest, the capital city of Hungary.

According to local news outlet Hungary Today, sculptors, Réka Gergely and Tamás Gilly are designing the statue, and have unveiled initial plans depicting a figure with a featureless face wearing a Bitcoin hoodie.

The hood is over the figure's head, and the face will be made from a reflective surface so that viewers can see themselves mirrored back when they look at the statue — emphasizing the idea that “we are all Satoshi.”

The project was initiated by crypto enthusiast András Györfi. Speaking with Hungary Today, he emphasized the benefits that Bitcoin and blockchain tech offer to the world:

“It is an efficient, fair, and transparent database that eliminates distrust between people and can make the world a better place in many areas, from food supply to aid delivery.”

The project has been financed by four organizations, Mr. Coin, Crypto Academy, Blockchain Hungary Association, and Blockchain Budapest.

The statue is set to be erected in Graphisoft Park in Budapest’s 3rd district, which already has a statue depicting Apple founder Steve Jobs in his signature look of jeans, a turtleneck, and sneakers. It was commissioned as a tribute to Jobs from Graphisoft, a Hungarian software firm that Jobs’ invested in as a start-up in the mid-1980s.

This is not the first public monument to be created in celebration of crypto culture — back in 2018 the Slovenian city of Kraj unveiled a Bitcoin monument in the center of a roundabout near the city’s courthouse.

The monument consists of a horizontal seven-meter-wide steel ring with the Bitcoin logo in the center. The project was financed by Luxembourg-based crypto exchange Bitstamp and blockchain software firm 3fs

Hungary appears to be warming up to crypto across the board, after the government revealed plans on May 11 to cut taxes on crypto trading from 30.5%, down to 15% as part of an economic recovery program post-pandemic.