• In Hungary, a  statue of the unknown founder of Bitcoin was unveiled to honor blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

• The faceless statue is the first to be erected in honour of bitcoin's founder, and it was totally funded by Bitcoin donations.

• Though many have speculated on the identity of Bitcoin's founder, the real name of the crypto pioneer is still unknown.

On Thursday, members of a cryptocurrency community in Hungary unveiled a statue honouring the Bitcoin digital currency's unknown creator.

The life-size bronze bust, etched with the name "Satoshi Nakamoto," a pseudonym used by the unnamed Bitcoin developer, rests atop a stone plinth at the Graphisoft industrial park in Budapest.

"We consider Satoshi to be the father of the entire cryptocurrency industry," says Andras Gyorfi, a Bitcoin journalist and  and head of the project, told the Associated Press. "He's the deity of our market because he created Bitcoin and blockchain technology."

The sculpture is a mirrored surface that allows visitors to see their own reflections on Nakamoto's face, alluding to Bitcoin enthusiasts' long-held belief that "We are all Satoshi," and that Bitcoin belongs to everyone who uses it. A hoodie with the Bitcoin emblem on the breast is also worn by the faceless bust.

The statue was created by sculptors Réka Gergely and Tamás Gilly. It was funded with $10,000 in cryptocurrency from the community and announced during a Budapest Blockchain conference in May, according to the Associated Press.

Gyorfi told the news outlet that he invited Nakamoto to the unveiling ceremony in the hopes of discovering the creator's true identity, but it is unclear whether he attended.

The hunt for Nakamoto's identity is as ancient as Bitcoin itself, and it's still cloaked in mystery and intrigue.

The "Bitcoin white paper," now known as "Bitcoin: a Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System," was published in 2008 and disseminated around cryptography groups. The paper is written by Satoshi Nakamoto, and it is the first time the name has been linked to Bitcoin.

30,000 lines of code debuted in 2009, signalling the start of the open-source Bitcoin. After a year, Nakamoto vanished from the internet, claiming in an email to a Bitcoin Core developer that he had "gone on to other things."

Hal Finney, an early Bitcoin miner, Craig Wright, an Australian entrepreneur, and Dorian S. Nakamoto, an engineer, and even Tesla CEO Elon Musk have all been suggested as the anonymous Nakamoto. These relationships have never been established, and the men have either categorically refuted or repudiated allegations that they are the founders of Bitcoin.

When crypto exchange company Coinbase filed for an IPO in February, it symbolically mailed a copy of its filing to Nakamoto, rekindling curiosity in the Bitcoin founder's identity. The corporation said in the filing that exposing Nakamoto's name would jeopardise Bitcoin's value.

Bitcoin was a key player in ushering in the era of decentralised finance by eliminating banks and government organisations from transactions and opening the path for other crypto currencies like Ethereum and Dogecoin. El Salvador has become the first country to recognise Bitcoin as legal tender.

When the statue was unveiled on Thursday, Bitcoin was trading at $47,804.98.