- HBO’s new documentary credits Peter Todd as Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto.
- Todd denied the claims and detailed the persistent mystery surrounding Bitcoin’s true founder.
HBO’s latest documentary, ‘Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery’, has sent shockwaves through the crypto community by naming Peter Todd as the real identity behind Bitcoin [BTC]’s mysterious creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.
This revelation comes amid previous speculation about prominent figures like Leonard “Len” Sassaman or Nick Szabo as the creator of BTC.
Is Peter Todd the real Satoshi Nakamoto?
In the documentary, produced by Cullen Hobak, Hobak reportedly confronted Todd and Adam Back with carefully collected evidence, ultimately choosing Todd as Satoshi Nakamoto.
This was exposed by Politico report on October 9, which has attracted a lot of attention.
Amid the unfolding news, Peter Todd himself discussed the claims on X (formerly Twitter) and stated:
“I’m not Satoshi.”
Additionally, in an email sent to a publication, Todd expressed skepticism about Hoback’s conclusion, noting that Hoback — who previously exposed the identity behind the QAnon conspiracy for HBO — was “grasping at straws” by telling Todd to as Nakamoto.
What else is going on?
Todd’s comments question the documentary’s claims and show his skepticism about the speculation surrounding his involvement.
He said:
“Yes, that interview did take place and I believe that specific shot was not deepfaked.”
Todd added,
‘Of course I’m not Satoshi. It is ironic that a director also known for a documentary on QAnon has also resorted to QAnon’s coincidence-based conspiracy thinking here.”
For those who don’t know, Peter Todd has playfully claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto several times.
In a 2019 “What Bitcoin Did.” podcastTodd joked to Peter McCormack, saying:
“I’m Satoshi, just like everyone else.”
During the conversation, Todd also shared that he made his first BTC purchase around October 2010, when the price was hovering around 20 cents, about two years after the publication of Bitcoin’s original whitepaper on October 31, 2008.
Peter Todd’s background says otherwise
Todd’s professional background also reflects strong expertise in applied cryptography and cryptocurrency development.
His GitHub profile identifies him as a cryptography consultant, a role that likely fueled his deep involvement in BTC’s development.
Since 2014, Todd has contributed as a Bitcoin Core Developer at Coinkite, a notable BTC infrastructure provider.
He has also held influential positions within the crypto community, including as chief scientist for Mastercoin – a communications protocol and digital currency using the Bitcoin blockchain.
Satoshi Nakamoto remains a mystery
That said, this latest speculation about Bitcoin’s creator only confirms that Satoshi Nakamoto’s true identity remains a mystery.
Polymarket’s data further highlights this, with the majority favoring “Not proven in Q4” over any concrete disclosure this quarter.
Source: Polymarkt
Meanwhile, BTC’s recent performance reflected the uncertainty in the market, trading at $62,410 with a slight decline of 0.14% in the past 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap.