THE HANOI TIMES — The statue of Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin, went on display in Hanoi on September 9.

Italian artist Valentina Picozzi created the work, and the Vietnam Blockchain and Digital Asset Association (VBA) brought it to Vietnam and placed it at the headquarters of Vietnamese firm 1Matrix in Times City. This statue marks the fifth in the world dedicated to Satoshi.

Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym of the individual or group who founded Bitcoin and blockchain technology, published the white paper on a peer-to-peer electronic cash system in 2008. In early 2009, he released the Bitcoin software and mined the first block, then mysteriously disappeared in 2010.

No one has ever confirmed his true identity. Still, by holding an estimated 1.1 million Bitcoins, worth more than $120 billion, Satoshi theoretically ranks among the world’s 20 richest people.

The Satoshi statue in Vietnam uses a “disappearing” effect. Viewers see it clearly from the side, but from the front it gradually fades until it vanishes.

Phan Duc Trung, Chairman of VBA, said that bringing the statue to Vietnam helps spread blockchain’s core values of transparency, freedom and security while creating space for the public to experience new technology.

VBA and 1Matrix open the statue and the Blockchain Gallery exhibition to visitors every Saturday.