Satoshi Nakamoto
“21 Nodes” by Satoshi Gallery
Viertel Zwei, 1020 Vienna.
11 photos The Vienna Node is supported by
The artwork
The sculpture shows a hacker seated with a laptop. The stereotype is deliberate: a nod to the developers around the world who built Bitcoin’s ecosystem.
It is made of 61 thin layers of stainless steel with narrow gaps between them, a technique developed by the sculptor Julian Voss-Andreae. The figure is recognisable from the side. Viewed from the front, it almost disappears. This echoes Satoshi Nakamoto’s anonymity and withdrawal from public life. What remains is his code.
When someone stands behind the statue, everyone else sees their reflection in its face: anyone can be Satoshi.
Satoshi Gallery
Satoshi Gallery began as a street art project by Valentina Picozzi. The Italian artist has been involved with Bitcoin since 2012 and met the early Bitcoin community at hacker meetups in London and other European cities. With stencils and spray paint, she brought Bitcoin artwork into public spaces.
Satoshi Gallery’s work addresses money, freedom and privacy. The project has grown into a team of artists led by Picozzi. Its first Satoshi sculpture was unveiled in Lugano in October 2024.
satoshigallery.com21 Nodes
21 sculptures by Valentina Picozzi, planned for locations around the world. The number refers to Bitcoin’s limit of 21 million.
Vienna 
48.21° N · 16.37° E
Lugano 
46.00° N · 8.95° E
New York 
40.71° N · 74.01° W
El Zonte 
13.50° N · 89.44° W
Hanoi 
21.03° N · 105.85° E
Tokyo 
35.68° N · 139.69° E
Why Vienna?
The Austrian School of Economics has its roots in Vienna. Since 2011, Austria has also had an organised Bitcoin community whose members share knowledge and develop software.
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Carl Menger
Carl Menger describes how people trading goods prefer to accept those they can readily pass on. A widely accepted medium of exchange can emerge this way. In his account, money develops through the actions of many individuals, without a state decree.
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Ludwig von Mises
The Theory of Money and Credit
Ludwig von Mises applies the subjective theory of value to money. Its purchasing power depends not only on the available supply, but also on demand: how much money people want to hold.
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Friedrich A. von Hayek
Friedrich Hayek argues for competition between privately issued currencies. People should decide which money they use. Competition would encourage issuers to preserve their currencies’ purchasing power. Unlike Bitcoin, his proposal relies on competing issuers managing their currencies.
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The Bitcoin whitepaper
On 31 October 2008, during the global financial crisis, Satoshi Nakamoto publishes the Bitcoin whitepaper. Satoshi describes electronic cash without a central intermediary: a network verifies payments and prevents the same units from being spent twice.
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The genesis block
On 3 January 2009, Satoshi creates the first Bitcoin block. It contains a headline from the British newspaper The Times about an impending second bank bailout. The message can still be read in the genesis block.
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Bitcoin Austria
Bitcoin Austria is founded in 2011. Its official founding meeting takes place at Vienna’s Metalab on 26 September. Participants discuss initial projects and attending the European Bitcoin Conference. The nonprofit still teaches people about Bitcoin today.
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Holding your own bitcoin
Andreas Petersson, a co-founder of Bitcoin Austria, develops the Mycelium Android wallet together with Jan Møller. It lets people send and receive bitcoin on their phones while keeping control of their own private keys.
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Buying bitcoin in Austria
Coinfinity is founded in Graz and installs Austria’s first Bitcoin ATM. In the same year, Bitpanda is founded in Vienna.
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Satoshi in Vienna
Vienna receives a Satoshi sculpture by Satoshi Gallery to mark Bitcoin Austria’s 15th anniversary.
Made possible by the community
Businesses and individuals funded the Vienna statue through a public donation campaign organised by Bitcoin Austria. Thank you to everyone who donated.
Genesis
Proof of Work
Individual supporters
121
people gave privately. Every donation was welcome.
Among them
- Thomas K
- Schneckette
- f19r
- europeanhodler
- Matthias Reder
- Chris Schaldgen
- Konar Arey
- Prof. Peter Kotauczek
- VikiSecrets
Visit the Vienna Node
By the lake in Viertel Zwei
- Location
- Near end of the lake, beside Hoch Zwei Viertel Zwei, 1020 Vienna
- Getting there
- U2 to Krieau, then walk towards Hoch Zwei to the near end of the lake.
- Access
- Public, outdoors
