HBO documentary filmmaker Hoback suggests Peter Todd is Bitcoin creator
According to the new HBO documentary "Money Electric: The Bitcoin (BTC) Mystery," it suggests that Peter Todd is actually the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto. However, Todd, an early Bitcoin developer, quickly debunked the claim on X.
Billed as a “globe-spanning investigation” that aims to “solve one of the internet’s greatest mysteries,” the documentary interviews a number of people and looks at a number of clues before focusing on Todd.
“The level of reaching here rivals QAnon stuff (which is pretty ironic if you know what Cullen's previous documentary was about)”
Exactly.
The truth is pretty simple: there's hundreds, even thousands of people who could have created Bitcoin.
We're not going to find Satoshi. https://t.co/TZMtqJhxgU— Peter Todd (@peterktodd) October 9, 2024
Although his motivation is unclear, the former Bitcoin developer seems to play with the director, Cullen Hoback, in a few exchanges towards the end of the documentary. At one point, he even claims to be Nakamoto, only to contradict himself moments later.
Hoback’s proof that Peter Todd is the creator of Bitcoin
Todd was among the first people to use Bitcoin. He went to the first Bitcoin meetup in Toronto in 2012, where Vitalik Buterin, the future founder of Ethereum, was also present, according to Matt Leising's book Out of the Ether. Since he was a teenager, Todd had been interested in creating digital currency and called himself a "young libertarian."
Satoshi wrote some paragraphs in the thread from a Bitcoin forum in 2010 recommending a technical modification to the code of Bitcoin. Todd replied a few hours later with what seemed to be a minor correction.
At this point, Hoback claims to be "very, very confident" that Todd is Satoshi. However, in the documentary, Todd informs Hoback that he would have destroyed "the ability to prove that I was Satoshi" if he had been the one who created Bitcoin.
Todd accuses HBO Documentary for putting his life in danger
Todd said in a statement to CNN that the HBO documentary and its creators were "irresponsible" and endangered his life. Todd added that the filmmaker exaggerated minor coincidences into a larger narrative. He also lamented the fact that HBO had not gotten in touch with him before the documentary's premiere or offered him a chance to preview the film.
Crypto enthusiasts on X criticize the HBO documentary conclusion
There was a great deal of online scrutiny following the HBO documentary's major revelation, with many cryptocurrency enthusiasts taking to social media, particularly X, to critique the film's conclusions.
Todd conveyed his frustration by saying that the documentary's evidence was speculative and unsubstantial. The film's disclosure has given the ten-year-old speculation about Nakamoto's true identity a new dimension, notwithstanding Todd's denials.
Mystery of Satoshi Nakamoto
Satoshi Nakamoto, who has been anonymous for over ten years, is widely recognized as the mysterious individual (or group of individuals) behind Bitcoin, the ground-breaking digital currency that popularized the idea of decentralized, peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions without the need for middlemen like banks.
Following the 2008 financial crisis, Nakamoto published a now-famous white paper that launched Bitcoin. Blockchain technology, which serves as a public ledger and guarantees long-term security and transparency, is the foundation upon which Bitcoin was built. Bitcoin had no monetary value at first, even though some enthusiasts thought it might become a decentralized digital currency.
Since the inventor of Bitcoin disappeared in December 2010, there has been much discussion about Nakamoto's true identity. Furthermore, it has been estimated that Nakamoto could control up to 1.1 million Bitcoin, or about $68 billion on paper, if he were still alive.
As of Tuesday, Bitcoin's market capitalization was over $1.2 trillion, and the cryptocurrency was trading at roughly $62,000, according to CoinMarketCap.
Filmmaker Hoback states the identity of Nakamato will cause a debate
Who the documentary names as Nakamoto will probably cause a "fair amount of controversy," Hoback told Fast Company last week. He added that it is going to cause a debate among different people regardless of how strong of a case the film made, and that's fine.
The possibility that one name will be mentioned over another has been the subject of much discussion and debate since last week, when it was implied that the documentary would reveal Nakamoto's true identity.
Prediction platform Polymarket makes over 20 million dollars
The decentralized prediction website Polymarket had already generated over $20 million in volume before the movie's premiere, as viewers speculated about who the HBO documentary would suggest is Satoshi Nakamoto. Users of Polymarket did not list Peter Todd as a contender.
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