Statue of Satoshi Nakamoto is recovered from a lake in Switzerland after vandalic attack

The work, installed in Lugano by Satoshigallery, It was thrown into the water by strangers. The gallery had offered 0.1 BTC as a reward for its return.

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• Lugano authorities recovered the statue fallen into a lake.
  
• Satoshigallery I had promised a reward of 0.1 BTC
  
• Sympathicants seeks support to reinstall sculpture safely.

A sculpture in honor of the creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, was recovered this week by the authorities of the city of Lugano, Switzerland, after having been removed from his pedestal and thrown into a nearby lake.

The statue, created by the Italian artist Valentina Picozzi, had recently been installed as part of a series of tributes promoted by Satoshigallery, An artistic group that seeks to pay tribute to anonymity behind the identity of Satoshi.

The piece is distinguished by its translucent and minimalist design, which symbolizes the pseudonym character of the creator of Bitcoin. According to information shared by Satoshigallery In its X account, it was an installation that also has replicas in Japan and El Salvador, and whose plan includes at least eighteen additional locations.

Young vandalism suspicions

The X user identified as Gritto He suggested that a group of young people could have been behind the vandalism. The statue, apparently, was only welded to the pedestal in two points, which would have facilitated its removal. However, this hypothesis has not yet been confirmed by local authorities or by Satoshigallery.

After the incident, the gallery offered a reward of 0.1 BTC —Proximably USD $ 11,400 at the time of the announcement – who will help recover the statue. Although this was finally found by municipal officials, it has not been reported whether the reward will be delivered.

The local and international community reacted with concern about the event. A petition in Change.org It was launched shortly after the incident with the objective of requesting support from local authorities to reinstall the statue in a safer environment. The description of the campaign states that both the artist and the gallery are willing to cover the restoration and reinstatement costs of the piece, as long as their future security is guaranteed.

The initiative was publicly backed by Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, who shared the request in his profile of X. This action reinforces the institutional interest within the crypto ecosystem in preserving cultural symbols related to Bitcoin and its history.

Satoshi’s symbolism in crypto culture

Since his disappearance from the public eye in 2011, the figure of Satoshi Nakamoto has fed multiple myths, research and artistic expressions. Picozzi’s work aims to capture that enigmatic spirit through an aesthetic that combines transparency in human form without identifiable features. The installation in Lugano had been held by local enthusiasts as a symbol of the city’s commitment to financial innovation.

Lugano, in recent years, has established itself as a cryptocurrency adoption center in Europe. Government programs have promoted the use of Bitcoin and Tether As means of payment within the city, in an alliance that includes companies and other ecosystem initiatives Blockchain.

The attack on sculpture represents, for some observers, a sign of the need to strengthen public education on the cultural and symbolic value of these expressions. For others, it is simply a mischief without major political background.

The truth is that the fact has caused a wave of solidarity online and reopened the debate on how to protect public works in urban spaces, especially those with deep meanings within digital communities.

Written article with the help of an AI content editor, edited by Angel Di Matteo / Diariobitcoin

Original image of Diariobitcoin, created with artificial intelligence, for free use, licensed under public domain.

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