Vandalized, Not Vanquished: Satoshi Nakamoto Statue Fished Out of Lake Lugano

The now-iconic statue of Bitcoin’s elusive creator, Satoshi Nakamoto—part public art installation, part crypto monument—has been recovered by city workers in Lugano, Switzerland, after being unceremoniously dumped into Lake Lugano.

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.