HBO Claims Peter Todd is Satoshi Nakamoto

HBO’s latest documentary seeks to unveil the identity of Bitcoin’s enigmatic creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, and points to Canadian Bitcoin core developer Peter Todd as the mastermind behind the cryptocurrency.

According to a report from Politico on October 9, Cullen Hoback, the producer of Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery, presents evidence suggesting Todd is Nakamoto during confrontations with both Todd and Blockstream founder Adam Back.

The documentary’s conclusion features Todd responding to a provocative inquiry from Hoback with, “Well yeah, I’m Satoshi Nakamoto.” However, this statement is not definitive proof that Todd is the true creator of Bitcoin. He has often used the phrase “I am Satoshi” to advocate for the original creator’s right to maintain anonymity.

Before the documentary aired, Todd publicly denied being Bitcoin’s creator and raised doubts about Hoback’s assertions after early clips hinted at him being Nakamoto. Following the documentary’s release, Todd reiterated his denial on social media, stating on October 8 in response to a comment on X, “I am not Satoshi.”

Todd has previously joked about being Satoshi. In a 2019 episode of the What Bitcoin Did podcast, he quipped, “I am Satoshi, as is everyone else.” He also recounted making his first Bitcoin purchase around October 2010 when the cryptocurrency was valued at about 20 cents, roughly two years after the release of Bitcoin’s whitepaper on October 31, 2008.

Why Todd was named Satoshi

Holback’s rationale for implicating Todd as Nakamoto is based on a chat log in which Todd stated he was “the world’s leading expert on how to sacrifice your Bitcoins.” He added that he had performed one such sacrifice manually. Hoback interprets this message as an acknowledgment that Todd had irreversibly forfeited access to the estimated 1.1 million Bitcoin, currently valued at $69.4 billion, believed to be held by Nakamoto.

Prior to Hoback’s shocking assertion, Todd shared his perspective on why Bitcoin’s creator might choose to remain anonymous. He posed the question: “What if the real reason for using the name Satoshi […] was so that people could take Bitcoin seriously? So they could believe it was created by a real cryptographer and not some kid still in school?”

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