Bitcoin is sponsoring a college football bowl game this year, officially dubbed the "Bitcoin Bowl." And because sports fans love mascots, "Mr. Bitcoin" is now apparently a thing that exists. All around the game's festivities, people are posing for photos with the rotund representation of the cryptocurrency.
Met Mr. Bitcoin at the @BitPay Christmas dinner! #BitcoinBowl @BitcoinBowl pic.twitter.com/Ha9JSYFHXL
— Maria Gallippi (@BitPayMom) December 26, 2014
But wait — as others have noticed, Mr. Bitcoin has been around for a while.
Like the Terminator, Mr. Bitcoin appeared bare and seemingly out of nowhere at the University of Texas (the site of the Texas Bitcoin Conference) about 10 months ago:
As he wandered the streets of Texas, estranged from his home — Another timeline? A different dimension? — he began to evolve. First, an arm sprouted:

Then, another arm appeared from inside his round, yellow shell, and Mr. Bitcoin apparently began attempting communication via interpretive dance:
Who was underneath the plush? What was his message? Was he making demands of any kind? Before any of these questions could be answered, he evolved yet again:
Fully anthropomorphized, Mr. Bitcoin donned a gaudy hat and shutter shades in an apparent attempt to blend in — and he started appearing everywhere. He took a class in Mexico City:

He gave a keynote address at a technological conference in Buenos Aires:

And alone on a beach in Uruguay, he was caught possibly signaling whatever world he's from:

Perhaps Mr. Bitcoin isn't from another world, and instead we find ourselves facing a "Einhorn is Finkle, Finkle is Einhorn" situation. Maybe, just maybe, Mr. Bitcoin is Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious man who may or may not be the cryptocurrency's creator, and may or may not actually be named Satoshi Nakamoto.
Or maybe he's just here to party: