In 2013, Sergio Lerner published research analyzing Bitcoin’s blockchain from 2009–2010, identifying a distinct pattern in blocks mined by a single dominant miner, dubbed "Patoshi" (a nod to Satoshi). The pattern is based on technical details of how Bitcoin mining worked in its early days:

 

Nonce Patterns: In Bitcoin mining, miners find a "nonce" (a random number) that produces a valid block hash. Early Bitcoin software incremented nonces in a predictable way. Lerner noticed that a large group of blocks (~1 million BTC worth, ~22,000 blocks) shared a unique pattern in their nonce values, suggesting they were mined by one entity using the same software setup.

 

ExtraNonce Behavior: The "ExtraNonce" field in Bitcoin blocks (used when nonce space is exhausted) showed a consistent increment pattern in these blocks, unlike others mined by different miners. This indicated a single miner with significant computational power.

 

Timestamp Analysis: Patoshi-mined blocks had consistent timestamps and difficulty adjustments, suggesting continuous mining with minimal interruptions, unlike other miners who joined later.

 

Early Mining Dominance: In 2009–2010, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty was low, and one miner (presumably Satoshi) mined a disproportionate number of blocks. Lerner estimated this miner earned ~1 million BTC, now worth billions.

 

Lerner’s analysis suggests these blocks were mined by Satoshi, as they align with Satoshi’s active period (2008–2011), their role in bootstrapping the network, and their subsequent dormancy (most Patoshi-linked coins remain unspent).