Clips from HBO's Satoshi Nakamoto documentary, which leaked hours before the firm premiered Tuesday night, seemed to finger former Bitcoin developer Peter Todd as the cryptocurrency's creator – but Todd denied it.
In an email to CoinDesk, Todd said filmmaker Cullen Hoback, best known for identifying the person behind the QAnon conspiracy theory in an earlier series for HBO, was "grasping at straws" if he's identifying Todd as Satoshi.
"Yes, that interview did happen and I believe that specific shot isn't deepfaked," he confirmed, though he added he had not yet seen the documentary.
"Of course, I'm not Satoshi," Todd said. "It's ironic that a director who is also known for a documentary on QAnon has resorted to QAnon style coincidence-based conspiracy thinking here too."
Even in the clips circulating on social media, Todd called the theory that he is Satoshi "ludicrous."
On Tuesday afternoon in New York, hours before the scheduled premiere of "Money Electric: the Bitcoin Mystery," the odds on Polymarket's bet over whom the film will identify as Satoshi overwhelmingly favored "Other/Multiple." At the time of the Polymarket bet's creation, Todd was not listed as a possibility, so anyone who wanted to bet on him being the film's "reveal" would have to choose "Other/Multiple."
Previously, cypherpunk Len Sassaman and then computer programmer Nick Szabo held the lead on Polymarket's list of possible HBO-toshi's.
Read more: Polymarket Bettors Shuffle Odds of Bitcoin's Creator Reveal Ahead of HBO Documentary
No firm evidence
The documentary, which lasted about 100 minutes, delved into the history of both Bitcoin and other crypto projects, but did not present any firm evidence supporting the idea that Todd was Satoshi.
There was some circumstantial evidence, including Todd's interest in cryptography from a young age, his relationship with Adam Back (who emailed with Satoshi), his technical ability and Satoshi's use of British/Canadian spellings juxtaposed with the fact that Todd is from Canada. The film's most tangible evidence hinged on a 2010 public forum post in which Todd responded to one of Satoshi's posts. Hoback argued Todd's post was a continuation of Satoshi's post, but accidentally sent from an account with Todd's name on it instead of Satoshi's.
However, the documentary did not definitively conclude that Todd was indeed Satoshi. Even the final confrontation between Hoback and Todd – the clip that was earlier leaked on social media – was speculative.
Hoback followed up by citing another blog post where Todd said he was "probably the world's leading expert" on how to sacrifice bitcoin, though even the filmmaker acknowledges this was a tenuous confirmation at best.
"It was hard not to read this as an admission, like Peter wanted his inner circle to trust that he had, in fact, sacrificed the bitcoins and destroyed all access," he said. "But this wasn't proof."
Bitcoin that Satoshi mined has never moved from its wallet, leading to speculation Satoshi is either dead or purposefully prevented themselves from touching the coins.
The confrontation
In the documentary, Hoback confronts Todd, laying out his theory of how and why Todd hid his supposed involvement in the invention of Bitcoin. Todd shakes his head and laughs at Hoback's assertions.
"I will admit you're pretty creative. You come up with some crazy theories. It's ludicrous," Todd said in the film. "But I'll say, yeah, of course I'm Satoshi. And I'm Craig Wright."
Read more: After Court Order, Craig Wright Updates Website With Admission He Is Not Bitcoin Creator Satoshi
This is clearly a joke, not a confession: Todd has previously made similar cracks that he "is Satoshi," telling "What Bitcoin Did" podcast host Peter McCormack in a 2019 interview : "I am Satoshi, as is everyone else."
Todd, still laughing, warns Hoback that he's drawn an incorrect conclusion.
"This is going to be very funny when you put this into the documentary and a bunch of bitcoiners watch it," Todd said. "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."
(PubKey, a bitcoin bar in New York City, showed the documentary Tuesday night. Viewers there laughed at the suggestion Todd is Satoshi. Someone said: "They left enough plausible deniability that you [a random person] could be Satoshi.")
Hoback responds by asking what the point is.
"The point is to make bitcoin the global currency," Todd responds.
Back, the CEO of Bitcoin development firm Blockstream who is standing next to Todd in the confrontation scene, did not respond to a request for comment from CoinDesk.
Though an early Bitcoin developer and someone deeply involved in the early years of Bitcoin, Todd has never been a prime suspect in journalists' years-long hunt for Satoshi. Figures like Hal Finney, Nick Szabo and Back are most frequently suggested to be Bitcoin's creator, though all have denied it.
During the McCormack podcast, Todd said that he bought his first bitcoin when the price per coin was 20 cents (which would mean he made the purchase around October 2010, two years after the bitcoin white paper was released).
Back posted on X Monday that, "for people betting, they are betting on what the documentary concluded. Which is probably not going to be true, because no one knows who Satoshi is. So they should keep that in mind."
Previous attempts by the media to unveil Satoshi's true identity have failed, with outlets incorrectly naming figures like programmer Dorian Nakamoto and known-pretender Craig Wright as Satoshi.
Read more: HBO Is Joining the Search for Bitcoin's Satoshi. Past Attempts Haven't Turned Out Great .
UPDATE (Oct. 9, 2024, 03:25 UTC): Adds details from the documentary.