Peter Todd, a prominent figure in the bitcoin community, has found himself at the center of a new theory surrounding the mysterious identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous individual or group credited with creating bitcoin. In a forthcoming HBO documentary, filmmaker Cullen Hoback presents evidence suggesting that Todd could be the real-world persona behind the enigmatic Satoshi.
The documentary, titled “Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery,” delves into the decades-old mystery surrounding Satoshi Nakamoto’s true identity. Hoback’s investigation has led him to believe that Todd, a bitcoin core developer with a long history of involvement in the cryptocurrency, fits the profile of the elusive creator.
If Todd were indeed Satoshi Nakamoto, it would make him one of the wealthiest individuals in the world. With an estimated 1.1 million bitcoins under his control, his holdings would be worth billions of dollars. However, Todd has vehemently denied these claims, stating that Hoback’s theory is “ludicrous.”
In his documentary Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery, Hoback suggests that the choice of a pseudonym like Satoshi Nakamoto might have been intended to lend credibility to Bitcoin, allowing people to take it seriously. He questions Todd directly, speculating that Todd, who was completing a fine arts degree in 2008, may have been the one behind the white paper.
Hoback further proposes that Todd, alongside Adam Back, CEO of Bitcoin development firm Blockstream, may have created an anonymous profile on the BitcoinTalk forum under the name John Dillon. According to Hoback, this profile served as a cover for Todd’s future contributions, including his 2015 Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) 125 and a post responding to Nakamoto in 2010, which Hoback claims might have been mistakenly posted using Todd’s profile.
Hoback’s argument hinges on a chat log where Todd refers to himself as the “world’s leading expert on how to sacrifice your bitcoins,” and claims to have performed such an action. Hoback interprets this as an admission that Todd had destroyed his access to the estimated 1.1 million bitcoins linked to Nakamoto. However, Todd denies these allegations, describing Hoback’s conclusions as “ludicrous.”
“It’s going to be very funny when you put this into the documentary and a bunch of bitcoiners watch it,” Todd said during the filming.
Leaked clips from the documentary have already circulated on social media platform X, causing a stir ahead of its official release. In a statement to Coindesk, Todd reiterated his stance, denying the allegations and accusing Hoback of “grasping at straws.”
A Canadian developer who began contributing to Bitcoin’s code in 2012, Todd has since become a prominent figure in the cryptocurrency community. During Bitcoin’s blocksize war between 2015 and 2017, Todd supported the “small blockers” who argued for keeping Bitcoin’s block size at 1 megabyte. The opposing faction, the “big blockers,” eventually forked the Bitcoin network, resulting in the creation of Bitcoin Cash.
Todd is also the founder of OpenTimestamps, an open-source project aimed at creating a standardized format for blockchain timestamping. Over the years, he has worked on various Bitcoin 2.0 projects such as Counterparty, Mastercoin, and Colored Coins. In 2016, he collaborated with NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden on the launch of the privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash, famously destroying the computer used for its creation to ensure security.
Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery Documentary Details and Controversy
In Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery, the documentary features a segment where Bitcoin advocate Roger Ver claims that Peter Todd is “working with the government” due to his small blocker stance, which Ver sees as undermining Bitcoin. Ver suggests that Todd’s position was part of a coordinated effort against Bitcoin, even accusing Todd of collaborating with a three-letter agency to implement the Replace-by-Fee mechanism.
The documentary then discusses the leaked “John Dillon” emails, with Ver asserting that these emails are evidence of Todd’s ties to intelligence agencies. However, the emails indicate the opposite—that John Dillon was not working with intelligence when engaging with Todd. Despite this, the documentary attempts to link these emails to Hoback’s theory that Todd could be Satoshi Nakamoto, a claim that critics dismiss as baseless and unrelated to Satoshi’s identity.
The documentary also shows clips of Todd sarcastically joking about working for the government, a response to the conspiracy theories from the large block faction. Critics of the film argue that it stretches these narratives without presenting substantial evidence connecting Todd to Satoshi Nakamoto.
