An HBO documentary titled “Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery” has delved into one of the internet’s most speculated origins: Who is Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of the world’s largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin?

The unknown creator of Bitcoin is known only by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, and therefore there is a lot of speculation about his origin (person or group), ranging from wild guesses to conspiracy theories.

Who is Satoshi Nakamoto according to the documentary?

According to a Bloomberg report on the film, the 100-minute documentary's answer is Canadian software engineer Peter Todd.

The documentary's creator, Cullen Hoback, interviewed people who have been involved with Bitcoin since its inception, including Adam Back (whom some speculate is Nakamoto), investor Roger Ver, Bitcoin marketer Samson Mow, and Todd himself.

Hoback reportedly used posts from an early Bitcoiner forum to speculate that Todd is Nakamoto.

However, when questioned directly during the interview, Todd dismissed the idea as “ridiculous” and even said mockingly at one point in the documentary, “I'm Satoshi Nakamoto,” Bloomberg reported. Several others spoken to in the film also laugh at the idea of ​​being Nakamoto.

About Peter Todd

Todd is based in Toronto and is listed on the developer platform GitHub as an applied cryptography consultant, Blomberg reported.

According to a LinkedIn profile obtained by Bloomberg, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Integrated Media from OCAD University in 2011, which also includes his professional roles as “Chief Naysayer” at Bitcoin security provider Coinkite and as Chief Scientist at anonymization wallet Service Dark Wallet and chief scientist at the Mastercoin project were mentioned.

Satoshi Nakamoto: Origin unknown

Bitcoin was launched in January 2009 after a white paper describing the concept was published in 2008. Since then, many have tried to identify the author.

In 2014, American publication Newsweek claimed that physicist Dorian Nakamoto was the one, but the man himself denied this.

In 2015, The New York Times (NYT) claimed that computer scientist Nick Szabo was the elusive creator.

Since 2016, Australian computer scientist Craig Wright has claimed to be Nakamoto, but in March 2024 a British judge ruled that this was not the case and referred his claims to British prosecutors for alleged perjury.

In addition, online forums such as Reddit speculate that Todd and even the American agency CIA are creators of Bitcoin.

Why is Nakamoto important?

Well, the creator of the world's largest cryptocurrency hasn't been heard from since 2011. But according to the Bloomberg report, there are up to 1 million Bitcoin in their wallets, worth $62.4 billion at current prices.

The large number of coins, if moved, could cause the token to crash, but Nakamoto's wallets haven't seen any movement in years.

The identity of the creator could also have a profound impact on the willingness of governments and companies to continue adopting the world's largest cryptocurrency.

(With input from Bloomberg)