"The Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery" by HBO finally aired on the 8th of October, with the documentary outing Peter Todd as Satoshi. Sure, the producer, Cullen Hoback, did his best to prove his point. But there’s a whole lot more to consider before making a final call.

Who is Satoshi Nakamoto in the Crypto Industry?

First, let’s understand who Satoshi Nakamoto is and why unmasking the person behind the name is so fascinating. Satoshi Nakamoto is an elusive figure who figured out that the traditional cash system was dying and came up with an idea to make a new type of money.

The fruit of their idea is Bitcoin, the very first successful cryptocurrency. We use the word “successful” because there were other attempts before Bitcoin that failed.

Satoshi Nakamoto published the Bitcoin whitepaper in 2008 and mined the first block the following year. After getting spooked by how the project was progressing, Satoshi slowly withdrew themselves from the topic before finally disappearing in 2011.

So where did Satoshi Nakamoto go? Well, that’s the whole idea of the HBO documentary Money Electric—to unmask the person behind the elusive Bitcoin creator.

Who is Satoshi Nakamoto according to "Money Electric"?

After almost an hour of twists and turns, director Cullen Hoback finally dropped the name of the supposed Satoshi. All his evidence pointed to one person—Peter Todd.

Peter Todd is a Canadian programmer who worked on Bitcoin in the early days of the cryptocurrency. The director did his best to submit several pieces of evidence to back up this claim, though they were circumstantial at best.

Peter Todd Theory

The theory that Peter Todd might be the Bitcoin Creator Satoshi Nakamoto is actually intriguing. To be fair, this is presumably the first documentary where he is the main suspect and not Hal Finney or other usual suspects. Also, Todd has, on multiple occasions, mentioned that he is Satoshi Nakamoto.

Cullen made his case by pointing out four main pieces of evidence:

  • Todd’s forum interaction
  • His technical background
  • His writing style and choice of words
  • The replace-by-fee feature

The major evidence is from a 2010 forum post where Todd was seemingly continuing a conversation started by Nakamoto. They were talking specifically about Bitcoin transactions and the possibility of accepting double spending.

But as noted by many in the community, the HBO documentary Money Electric kind of manipulated the context to fit into the narrative.

The second evidence is an old resume of Todd showing he is proficient in C++, the main programming language used in the original Bitcoin code. And years later, Todd denied ever knowing the language.

The documentary then went further to compare Nakamoto and Todd’s writing style, which, by the way, is kind of a far stretch. Then it ended with the replace-by-fee feature which Todd and Nakamoto discussed in the thread and was later implemented by Todd himself.

Peter Todd has come out to say he isn’t Satoshi Nakamoto—obviously. He also mentioned that his response to the double spending discussion reply was more of a sarcastic correction and not a good enough proof that he is the person.

Other Satoshi Nakamoto Suspects

While Todd was the main suspect in the Money Electric documentary, other series before it have tried to nail other suspects, including the likes of Dorian Nakamoto, Nick Szabo, Hal Finney, and Craig Wright. At one point, it was even speculated that the Bitcoin creator might just be a group effort.

Dorian Nakamoto

One of the first attempts to put a face behind the mysterious Bitcoin creator was in 2014 by Newsweek. Somehow, they pointed fingers at Dorian Prentice Nakamoto, a Japanese-American living in California who had an exact-match name. 

Could this seemingly ordinary man really be the mysterious creator of Bitcoin? The key points of the theory include:

  1. Dorian's birth name, Satoshi Nakamoto, matched the pseudonym used by Bitcoin's creator.
  2. His background in engineering and working on classified defense projects suggested he had the technical skills to create Bitcoin.
  3. The Newsweek reporter claimed that Dorian had verbally confirmed his involvement with Bitcoin during a brief encounter.

Dorian Nakamoto strongly denied being the creator of Bitcoin. In a statement released through his lawyer, he said:

I did not create, invent, or otherwise work on Bitcoin. I unconditionally deny the Newsweek report.

He also said that he had not heard of Bitcoin until his son told him about it in February 2014 after Newsweek contacted him about it. Also, Dorian said that he had cut off his internet service in 2013 because of money problems, which went against the timeline of Bitcoin's creation and upkeep.

Nick Szabo

Nivk Szabo is another person that is alleged to be the cryptocurrency founder. Szabo was one of the earliest creators of a decentralized currency system after conceptualizing “Bit Gold” back in 1998. 

Besides creating Bit Gold, analysts noted that his writing style was also similar to that of Nakamoto. However, this was disproved by lots of experts, including Wei Dai, one of the few people who communicated with Satoshi directly.

Nick Szabo has also consistently denied being Satoshi Nakamoto. He stated to journalist Dominic Frisby:

I'm afraid you got it wrong doxing me as Satoshi, but I'm used to it.

Hal Finney

If anyone ever came close to being the cryptocurrency founder, it would have been Hal Finney. Up until his death, the renowned blockchain technology expert contributed a lot to making Bitcoin what it is today.

For one, Finney was the first person ever to run the Bitcoin software and even received the first Bitcoin transaction from Satoshi himself. 

He was also a member of the cypherpunk movement, which was explained in the HBO Money Electric documentary as one of the driving forces of modern bitcoin.

However, one of the major pieces of evidence that disproves the link revolves around a 10-mile race in Santa Barbara, California, which happened on Saturday, April 18, 2009, where Hal was photographed participating while the real Satoshi was busy making transactions.

Craig Wright

Personally, Craig Wright shouldn’t be on this list with other people like Finney and Todd. The main reason is his endless struggle to prove that he is Satoshi. 

Craig Wright, an Australian computer scientist and businessman, is the only person to ever make a self-proclaimation of being Satoshi—and even went to court for it.

H was able to tender several proofs to back up his claims, including supposed cryptographic keys that proved to be Satoshi. But the funniest and most lame were his sister’s testimony in court, where she mentioned that she saw her brother [Craig] practicing martial arts at a public park, and so he might be Satoshi.

Group Theory

Another popular but unfounded Satoshi identity theory is that the Bitcoin creator could actually be a group and not one person. However, this theory didn’t hold water at all. The major criticism was the lack of leaks. If it was a group, someone would have leaked out the secrets long ago—maybe to take the credit or as revenge for being cut off; you know the drill.

What Can We Learn from "Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery"?

HBO's "Money Electric" doesn't solve the puzzle. But it does teach us a lot about cryptocurrencies and online privacy.

The documentary shows how easy it is to connect dots and make guesses, but also how hard it is to prove anything for sure. This reminds us to think carefully and ask for real proof when people make big claims.

"Money Electric" also shows how much Bitcoin has changed money and technology. It explains how a new idea, started by someone we don't know, can shake up whole industries and change how we think about money. The film looks at how Bitcoin is used in places like El Salvador, showing how it can change economies and give people more control over their money.

But the mere fact that it still couldn’t identify who Satoshi Nakamoto is, even after so much digging, shows how powerful online privacy can be. It makes us think about why being anonymous might be important for creating new things and what might happen if Satoshi was found out.

In the end, the documentary suggests that we might never know who Satoshi Nakamoto really is—and maybe that's okay. Not knowing who created Bitcoin has become part of what makes it special. It keeps people focused on the technology itself, not on one person.

HBO Documentary Sparks Fresh Speculation on Bitcoin’s Mysterious Founder | HODL FM
“Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery” by Cullen Hoback, aims to unveil Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity, stirring speculation and debate
hodl-post-imageHODL FM: The Wildest Ride in the Crypto MarketHODL Team
hodl-post-image

Disclaimer: All materials on this site are for informational purposes only. None of the material should be interpreted as investment advice. Please note that despite the nature of much of the material created and hosted on this website, HODL FM is not a financial reference resource and the opinions of authors and other contributors are their own and should not be taken as financial advice. If you require advice of this sort, HODL FM strongly recommends contacting a qualified industry professional.