Vandalized bitcoin creator statue recovered from Swiss Lake

The shattered remains of the statue of Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto were retrieved from Lake Lugano on August 4, 2025.

The statue was stolen by unknown vandals who tore it from its pedestal and dumped it in the water over the weekend.

The artwork showcased a one-of-a-kind optical illusion that transforms into digital code when viewed from specific angles.

The Swiss search team found it broken into pieces along the shoreline.

The Official team of the Satoshi gallery praised Lugano authorities for retrieving the stolen statue from lake stating: "We want to thank the Municipality of Lugano for helping us to recover the statue that was thrown into the lake."

The stainless movement was created by Italian Bitcoin artist Valentina Picozzi during her time with the Satoshigallery collective.

Other artworks from the collection are installed in Budapest, Hungary, Bitcoin Beach in El Salvador, and Tokyo, Japan.

She condemned the destruction but shared her plans to install 21 global Bitcoin tributes.

When stolen, officials offered a 0.1 BTC ($11,000+) reward for sharing any information related to the stolen art piece.

While sharing on X (formerly Twitter), the officials wrote: “We are offering 0.1 btc to whoever will help us recovering the Statue of Satoshi Nakamoto that was stolen yesterday in Lugano. You can steal our symbol but you will never be able to steal our souls. Thank you all for the nice messages. We are all in this together and committed to place the statue in 21 places round the world.”

In October, 2024, the statue was revealed at Lugaon’s Plan B Forum after 21 months of development.

Although the vandal’s identity has not been confirmed, some speculate that the damage has been done by Swiss National Day revelers.

The statue symbolizes Nakamoto's enduring mystery as the pseudonymous creator’s untouched ~1.1 million BTC ($125B+) remains the crypto world’s greatest enigma.