A statue representing the anonymous brains behind Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, vanished from a lakeside stall in Switzerland. It had only recently appeared in October 2024, but in its short lifetime, it was already symbolic. And then it was gone. The statue later turned up, conveniently enough, in a lake. But the question then was: why on earth do people steal statues? Why is public art that is often meant to be shared and experienced communally turned into a defying activity?
Why stolen statues like Satoshi’s and Banksy’s spark bigger conversations
On its face, swiping a statue is seen as juvenile delinquency or childish pranking. But it’s never really about the object. Statues are shorthand symbols of power, history, culture. Here, the Satoshi statue wasn’t even a monument to one individual, it was a physical stand-in for an invisible mystery. Taking it wasn’t theft; it was a challenge to meaning. This phenomenon is not exclusive to crypto.
A Banksy mural, a red stop sign adorned with three military drones, popped up in London in 2023. Within an hour, it vanished. Men with bolt cutters took the piece away in broad daylight, witnesses reported. According to The Guardian, the estimated worth was said to be more than half a million dollars.
Another example: in 2004, The Drinker, a life-sized sculpture by Banksy parodying Rodin’s The Thinker, was stolen from a public square in London by a man who called himself “AK47,” an art activist who claimed the act was a statement about ownership and value in art. The statue was later held for ransom, disappeared again, and became the center of a documentary titled The Banksy Job.
Top 5 most famous stolen statues since early 2000s
- “The Drinker” – Banksy (2004)
- A parody of Rodin’s The Thinker. Stolen shortly after installation. Claimed by a rival artist.
- Tehran Bronze Statues (2009)
- 11+ public bronze statues vanished overnight. Metal theft or symbolic act debated.
- “Sun Spirit” – Frank Miles (2009, stolen in 2013).
- 12-foot bronze abstract sculpture stolen; likely melted for scrap.
- Henry Moore & Lynn Chadwick bronze works (2005)
- Stolen from Gandhi Square; later found cut into pieces. Sparked public outcry.
- Banksy’s Stop Sign Mural (2023)
- A stop sign painted with military drones. Stolen within an hour, valued over £500,000.
- Satoshi Statue (2024)
- Statue of Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator. Mysteriously disappeared, later found. Sparked a debate over authorship, ownership, and digital symbolism.
What drives people to steal statues?
Everywhere in the world, statues vanish and are vandalized from art galleries, front yards, and park benches. Some are stolen for the cash. Others, seemingly, just to make a point.
Street statues and graffiti occupy an odd position within our cultural ecosystem. They’re meant to be viewed by everyone, but they never really belong to anyone specifically. That ambiguity makes them susceptible to certain agendas.
Why the Satoshi heist is different
The theft of the Satoshi statue is characteristic of this new myth-making. Bitcoin itself is built on mystery, a faceless founder, decentralized control, and no single point of truth. The missing of the statue just adds to the myth. It gets woven into the story.
In a way, it’s poignant. A concrete symbol of an abstract specter vanishes and reappears, perhaps as if to remind us that even homage to code cannot be immune to the flaw of human culture. These actions may look like thievery, but sometimes they’re more like talking. Clumsy, unauthorized, and chaotic, but meaningful.
These pieces transcend their material form; their real power comes from the ideas and values they symbolize.
