HBO documentary suggests Peter Todd is Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, who denies it online
2024-10-09

The new HBO documentary "Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery" suggests the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, is Peter Todd.
Todd quickly took to X to deny the claim.
The nearly two-hour documentary, billed as a “globe-trotting investigation” out to “solve one of the internet’s greatest mysteries” interviews a series of different people and examines various clues before finally zeroing in on Todd. Although its unclear what his motive is, in a few exchanges towards the end of the documentary between Todd and the film's director Cullen Hoback, the Bitcoin core developer appears to toy with the filmmaker.
"Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery,” created by Hoback, aired on HBO Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET. Hoback is also known for directing "Q: Into the Storm," the HBO docu-series that exposed those who perpetuated the QAnon conspiracy theory.
Nakamoto’s real name has been a subject of intense debate since the creator of Bitcoin vanished in December 2010. Additionally, estimates have suggested that if Nakamoto was still alive, they could control as much as 1.1 million bitcoin, which would be worth roughly $68 billion on paper.
Anonymous for more than a decade, Nakamoto has long been credited as the enigmatic person (or group of people) who created Bitcoin, the revolutionary digital currency that popularized the concept of decentralized, peer-to-peer transactions without the need for intermediaries like banks.
In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, Nakamoto introduced Bitcoin with the release of a now-famous white paper. Bitcoin was built upon a blockchain, a technology that acts as a public ledger meant to ensure enduring transparency and security. Initially, Bitcoin had zero monetary value despite some enthusiasts believing it had potential as a decentralized, digital currency.
Today, Bitcoin is the world's most popular cryptocurrency based on market capitalization, which as of Tuesday was over $1.2 trillion dollars. The cryptocurrency traded at about $62,000 during much of Tuesday, according to The Block's BTC Price Page.
'People are going to debate it'
Last week, Hoback told Fast Company who the documentary pinpoints as Nakamoto would likely generate a “fair amount of controversy,” adding that "people are going to debate it regardless of how strong of a case we made, and that’s fine. That’s the nature of this space.”
Ahead of the film airing, the decentralized prediction platform Polymarket had generated over $20 million in volume as users speculated who the documentary would suggest was Nakamoto. The top frontrunners included Len Sassaman, Nick Szabo, Adam Back and David Kleiman. At one point in the day Sassaman, Szabo and Back were all essentially tied with each scoring a probability of being named of about 8%. Todd was not named as a contender by Polymarket users.
“It's remarkable that Satoshi has managed to remain fully anonymous for over 15 years,” said Botanix Labs CEO and Founder Willem Schroé. “Given the enormous global effort to uncover his identity, this has always suggested to me that Satoshi was most likely a single individual.”
Since last week when it was suggested the documentary would reveal Nakamoto’s true identity, speculation has been rampant with people discussing and debating the likelihood of one name being named over others. Self-proclaimed DeFi researcher @CryptoNobler, who has more than 100,000 followers on X, predicted HBO would “take one of two bullish approaches,” either pinpointing various “individuals are proposed as possible candidates, with no definitive name suggested” or going “all in” on one person who is deceased.
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