A new documentary aims to track down Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin.
According to the documentary’s investigations, Nakamoto is actually a Canadian developer named Peter Todd.
The evidence is inconclusive, and Todd himself has denied the allegations in the past.
The new HBO documentary Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery reportedly reveals the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin. However, the conclusion it reaches isn’t definitive.
Is Peter Todd actually Satoshi Nakamoto? Director Cullen Hobak believes that a Canadian developer named Peter Todd, known as @petterktodd on X, is the creator of Bitcoin. Todd is a well-known figure in the cryptocurrency field, but until now, no one had considered him a top candidate for being the real Nakamoto.
Todd denies the allegations. When confronted with that theory in the documentary, Todd shrugs and calls the idea “ludicrous.” In a recent interview with CoinDesk, Todd repeatedly denied that he was Nakamoto. In his opinion, the director of the documentary was “grasping at straws” with his claim. “Of course I’m not Satoshi,” Todd told the outlet.
No conclusive evidence. The documentary offers no clear evidence of Hobak’s discovery, and all the evidence it shows is circumstantial. Among the clues are Todd’s interest in cryptography, his recognized technical knowledge, and his relationship with Adam Back, a well-known cryptographer who exchanged emails with Nakamoto at some point.
According to Hobak, Todd responding to a Nakamoto post online in 2010 is also proof of the creator of Bitcoin’s real identity. The director believes that Todd’s comment was actually a continuation of Nakamoto’s original message, but it was accidentally sent from an account with Todd’s name instead of Nakamoto’s.
Candidates everywhere. Days before the documentary’s release, Polymarket published an interesting list of potential candidates. It listed several names and encouraged readers to bet on who among them would end up being the person revealed on the HBO doc. Todd’s name wasn’t even on the list. Instead, the big contenders were Paul Le Roux, Gavin Wood, Nick Szabo, and Craig Wright.
Nakamoto, the billionaire. Revealing Nakamoto’s identity could have a significant impact on the financial markets. It’s estimated that the Bitcoin creator has close to one million bitcoin, which would make them a billionaire and give them significant power within the ecosystem. At the same time, the fact that the creator of Bitcoin purportedly has this large amount of cryptocurrency could lead to irregular movements in their valuation. The so-called “whales,” the mysterious individuals or entities that hide behind a Bitcoin wallet and possess a large number of bitcoin, already suspect it.
The mystery remains. HBO’s evidence seems insufficient to prove that Todd is Nakamoto. Nic Carter, a well-known cryptocurrency investor, denied this in an interview with Politico and expressed a wish that many crypto-believers probably share: “I personally hope we never find out who Satoshi is.”
Image | HBO
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