Gavin Andresen
Early lead developer, Bitcoin Foundation founder
- Known for
- Lead developer after Satoshi; the Bitcoin Faucet[1]
- Years active
- 2010–2016[1]
- Key contribution
- Ran the project as Satoshi left[1]
- Notable date
- Apr 8, 2014: handed lead maintainer role on[2]
Photo: Gavin Andresen at Web Summit 2014 by Stephen McCarthy / Sportsfile / Web Summit, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped.
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Bio
Gavin Andresen is a software developer who discovered Bitcoin in 2010 and set up the Bitcoin Faucet, which gave away free bitcoin to newcomers.[1]
Satoshi Nakamoto gave him direct access to the source code and, over late 2010, control of the SourceForge repository and the project's alert key. He became the project's lead developer when Satoshi stopped posting in December 2010.[1]
He founded the Bitcoin Foundation in 2012 and stepped back from software work by 2014, when Wladimir van der Laan took over as lead maintainer.[1][2]
Timeline
2010
Launches the Bitcoin Faucet[1]
December 2010
Leads development after Satoshi goes quiet[1]
2012
Founds the Bitcoin Foundation[1]
Apr 8, 2014
Van der Laan takes over as lead maintainer[2]
Connections
Was given control of the code repository and alert key by Satoshi Nakamoto. Source
Handed the Bitcoin Core lead maintainer role to Wladimir van der Laan. Source
Founded the Bitcoin Foundation, where Roger Ver was a founding member. Source
Elsewhere on CHS
Sources
Checked Oct 15, 2026 · All people