Oct 18, 2024
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1 min. read
An HBO documentary titled “Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery,” premiered on Tuesday, suggesting that early Bitcoin developer Peter Todd might be the person behind the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. In a later segment of the film, Todd refuted the claim, reiterating in a subsequent interview with Coindesk and other media outlets that he is not the founder of Bitcoin.
The documentary offers little solid proof linking Todd to the creation of Bitcoin, instead highlighting his technical expertise, passion for cryptography, and his association with Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream. and inventor of Hashcash. Cullen Hoback, the director of "Money Electric," also draws attention to a 2010 forum post by Satoshi Nakamoto, suggesting that Todd’s reply in that thread was an indication he had accidentally used the wrong account, continuing Satoshi’s initial post.
In the documentary, Todd is seen standing next to Back and remarks, "This is going to be very funny when you put this into the documentary and a bunch of bitcoiners watch it. I suspect a lot of them will be very happy if you go this route because it's yet another example of journalists really missing the point in a way that's very funny."
Hoback is no stranger to investigating enigmatic figures. His 2021 HBO documentary, “Q: Into the Storm,” chronicled a three-year quest to uncover the identity of Qanon’s creator.