Hours earlier than the premiere of HBO’s Satoshi Nakamoto documentary on Tuesday evening, leaked clips started circulating, suggesting that Peter Todd, a former Bitcoin developer, is likely to be the mysterious creator of the cryptocurrency. Nonetheless, Todd has brazenly rejected this concept.
In keeping with CoinDesk, Todd responded to the declare, accusing filmmaker Cullen Hoback—who beforehand uncovered the identification behind the QAnon conspiracy in an earlier HBO sequence—of “greedy at straws” in his try to hyperlink Todd to Satoshi Nakamoto.
Todd confirmed that the interview proven within the documentary was actual, stating, “Sure, that particular scene is not a deepfake,” though he talked about he hadn’t but watched the documentary. He additionally added, “After all, I am not Satoshi.”
Todd discovered it ironic {that a} director recognized for investigating QAnon was now utilizing related “coincidence-based” logic to gas hypothesis about his involvement.
In clips shared on social media, Todd referred to the notion that he may very well be Satoshi as “absurd.”
On Tuesday afternoon, simply hours earlier than the debut of “Cash Electrical: The Bitcoin Thriller” in New York, betting odds on Polymarket overwhelmingly favored “Different/A number of” because the movie’s reveal for Satoshi’s identification. Since Todd wasn’t instantly listed as a alternative, anybody inserting a wager on him needed to choose the “Different/A number of” choice.
Is Peter Todd Actually Satoshi? The Documentary’s Case Examined
The 100-minute documentary explored the origins of Bitcoin and different cryptocurrency initiatives however failed to supply concrete proof linking Peter Todd to Satoshi Nakamoto.
Some circumstantial clues have been highlighted, corresponding to Todd’s early curiosity in cryptography, his connection to Adam Again (who communicated with Satoshi by way of e-mail), his technical experience, and the truth that each Satoshi and Todd used British/Canadian spellings, with Todd being Canadian.
Probably the most notable piece of proof offered was a 2010 public discussion board put up wherein Todd replied to certainly one of Satoshi’s posts. The filmmaker, Cullen Hoback, advised that Todd’s response was truly a continuation of Satoshi’s put up, mistakenly despatched from Todd’s account as a substitute of Satoshi’s.
Nonetheless, the documentary didn’t attain a definitive conclusion that Todd was Satoshi. Even the much-anticipated confrontation between Hoback and Todd, featured in a leaked clip, remained speculative.
Hoback additionally referenced a weblog put up the place Todd claimed to be “most likely the world’s main professional” on methods to destroy Bitcoin, although even Hoback admitted this was removed from strong proof.
“It felt like an admission, as if Peter wished these near him to consider he had certainly destroyed the bitcoins,” Hoback stated. “However this wasn’t proof.”
The Bitcoin mined by Satoshi has by no means been moved, fueling ongoing hypothesis that Satoshi both handed away or intentionally ensured they’d by no means entry the cash.