HBO Documentary Links Peter Todd to Bitcoin’s Creation

Canadian Bitcoin core developer Peter Todd was named as the cryptocurrency's inventor in an HBO documentary that sought to expose Satoshi Nakamoto

Bitcoin Core developer Peter Todd has once again denied being Satoshi Nakamoto following the premiere of an HBO documentary that named the Canadian as the inventor of the cryptocurrency.

Filmmaker Cullen Hoback, who produced the HBO documentary Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery, approached both Blockstream creator Adam Back and Todd with his theory regarding Todd's identity as Satoshi.

The evidence that Hoback had gathered was presented to the Bitcoin developer, who was asked directly whether he was Satoshi. According to a report from Cointelegraph, Todd responded by saying, "Well yeah, I'm Satoshi Nakamoto."

However, this statement, which was made toward the climax of the documentary, does not definitively establish Todd as the creator of Bitcoin.

In the past, Todd has stated that he used the phrase "I am Satoshi" to protect the anonymity of the real creator of Bitcoin.

"I am Satoshi," he told Unchained Podcast host Laura Shin in 2020. "I have always maintained that I am Satoshi to protect the identity of the real Satoshi."

Short excerpts from the documentary began circulating online prior to its premiere, which led to Todd openly denying that he was the founder of Bitcoin and expressing skepticism toward Hoback's conclusion.

"I'm not Satoshi and I don't think Cullen figured it out," he wrote in a post on Medium's X pub.

Following the premiere of the documentary, Todd once again took to social media to deny being Satoshi.

"I am not Satoshi," Todd wrote in response to a comment on X on Oct. 8, which asked him to publicly refute HBO's claim.

In the past, Todd has made light of the claims that he is Satoshi. Speaking on an episode of the What Bitcoin Did podcast in 2019, Todd told host Peter McCormack, "I am Satoshi, as is everyone else."

According to McCormack, who appeared on the show, he purchased his first BTC (bitcoin) when it was trading for around 20 cents.

Based on this statement, Todd's acquisition of Bitcoin would have occurred in October 2010, roughly two years after the publication of Bitcoin's whitepaper on Oct. 31, 2008.

One piece of evidence that Holback cited in his theory regarding Todd's identity as Satoshi was a chat log in which the Bitcoin developer apparently claimed to be "the world’s leading expert on how to sacrifice your Bitcoins."

According to Holback, this statement, along with Todd's claim to have personally performed a Bitcoin sacrifice, serves as an admission. In a message to Dergigi, Todd wrote, "I personally burned a BTC to Dergigi, and I am the world's leading expert on how to sacrifice your Bitcoins."

The HBO documentary producer went on to state that the 1.1 million BTC, which are currently valued at over $69.4 billion, are thought to be controlled by Satoshi's private key, which Todd disabled.