On December 13, a significant event unfolded in the history of Bitcoin, although it may not be as widely recognized as the publication of the white paper or the official launch of the network. It marked the last known activity of Satoshi Nakamoto, the enigmatic creator of Bitcoin, who was last active at 4:45 pm ET on that day in 2010.

Nakamoto’s final public message, which was posted on December 12, focused on their work on preventing denial-of-service attacks. By this time, Nakamoto had already passed on the responsibility of maintaining Bitcoin’s open-source code to developer Gavin Andresen.

A day earlier, on December 11, 2010, Nakamoto expressed concerns on the Bitcointalk forum regarding the growing attention Bitcoin was receiving from the mainstream. This surge in interest was sparked by WikiLeaks’ consideration of Bitcoin for accepting donations after experiencing disruptions in its services from major payment processors.

Nakamoto famously remarked, “It would have been nice to get this attention in any other context. WikiLeaks has kicked the hornet’s nest, and the swarm is headed towards us.”

It is worth noting that Nakamoto continued to communicate privately with early Bitcoin developers, even after withdrawing from the public domain where they had been quite active. Months later, Nakamoto sent their final private message in an email to developer Michael Hern, stating, “I’ve moved on to other things.”

The true identity of Nakamoto has been a subject of intense speculation and controversy, especially in the years following their departure from the public stage. To this day, their identity remains unknown.