The new documentary “Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery” by renowned documentary filmmaker Cullen Hoback was officially released on Tuesday. It claims that former Bitcoin Core developer Peter Todd is the real identity behind Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto. However, the arguments presented in the documentary are far-fetched and not believed by the Bitcoin community. Peter Todd himself has personally denied being Satoshi Nakamoto.
Background:
Len Sassaman, an anonymous hero dedicated to defending personal freedom through cryptography.
Who is Peter Todd?
Peter Todd is a 39-year-old early Bitcoin Core developer and cryptography consultant based in Canada. He first submitted code to Bitcoin Core in April 2012 and has been involved in the early development of Bitcoin, making significant contributions in the areas of security and privacy.
Peter Todd’s Career:
According to Cointelegraph reports, Peter Todd was one of the few people who openly communicated with Satoshi Nakamoto regarding Bitcoin code and functionality before Nakamoto’s disappearance in 2011. This became evidence for documentary filmmaker Cullen Hoback to speculate that Peter Todd might be Satoshi Nakamoto.
Reasons for Peter Todd being Satoshi Nakamoto:
In 2010, Peter Todd used a new account to reply to Satoshi Nakamoto’s post on the Bitcointalk forum. HBO claims that he mistakenly used his own account to respond to Nakamoto’s post. Both accounts became inactive a few days later. Peter Todd later implemented the fee replacement (RBF) concept discussed in that post.
HBO also claims that Peter Todd used the pseudonym John Dillon to promote RBF, and both used British/Canadian spelling. Additionally, the timing of Nakamoto’s posts aligns with that of a student, with more posts on weekends. Peter Todd has also discussed “sacrificing” Bitcoin, which could imply destroying Nakamoto’s Bitcoin.
However, the documentary does not provide conclusive evidence that Todd is Nakamoto. The most significant evidence presented is Nakamoto’s post on the Bitcointalk forum, which appears to be replied to by Peter Todd’s account. But Todd clarified that he was only correcting an error in Nakamoto’s post and did not switch accounts.
In response to the allegations made in the HBO documentary, Peter Todd has strongly denied them. He stated that the accusations by Cullen Hoback are baseless and that he has become Hoback’s scapegoat. Todd emphasized that he does not know who Satoshi Nakamoto is and criticized Hoback for adopting QAnon-style conspiracy theories.
In the documentary, there is a scene where Cullen Hoback confronts Peter Todd, who expresses frustration with being accused of being Satoshi Nakamoto.
Related reports:
Who is this Asian-faced man? Former spokesperson for Satoshi Nakamoto speaks out: “I don’t understand Bitcoin at all.”
Rumors about the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto: Who is Len Sassaman? Why did everyone vote for him?
Polymarket launches “Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity” prediction market. Will HBO’s documentary “Money Electric” reveal the truth?