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HBO’s Latest Doc Probes Satoshi Nakamoto’s Identity

HBO’s new documentary, Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery, just landed on the Max streaming service Tuesday night. Directed by Cullen Hoback, the film dives deep into the origins of Bitcoin and tries to uncover its elusive creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. This time, the spotlight falls on Peter Todd, a Bitcoin Core developer. Hoback connects a few dots but, like past efforts, the film stops short of delivering any solid proof.

In the crypto world, unmasking Satoshi remains a holy grail, but many doubt any doc can crack the code.

Is Peter Todd Really Satoshi?

In Money Electric, Hoback presents Peter Todd as a strong candidate for being Satoshi Nakamoto. He lays out clues, focusing on Todd’s early contributions to Bitcoin and a particular forum post that the director believes Todd wrote under Satoshi’s pseudonym. He also suggests Todd’s teenage attempts to turn Hashcash into a digital currency point to a connection.

But this isn’t the first time someone’s been dragged into the Satoshi mystery, and Hoback doesn’t provide the smoking gun. Todd himself tweeted before the documentary aired, saying, “I’m not Satoshi.” This feels like déjà vu for crypto veterans, many of whom watched previous documentaries make similar claims only to fall short.

Skepticism and Shrugs From the Crypto Community

The crypto world has seen this story play out before. Hoback follows a path well-traveled, revisiting names like Hal Finney, the late cryptographer who was a key figure in Bitcoin’s early days. Blockstream CEO Adam Back, also featured in the doc, has long been linked to Satoshi rumors, but none of these names have ever been definitively tied to Bitcoin’s anonymous creator.

Samson Mow, the CEO of JAN3, didn’t mince words, telling Decrypt, “It’s probably not Peter.” Mow adds that at this stage, the identity of Bitcoin’s creator hardly matters. Bitcoin’s development has far outgrown the need for a single person behind the curtain.

Market Ignores the Drama

Interestingly, Money Electric failed to shake the crypto markets. Bitcoin remained stable, trading at $62,200, according to CoinGecko. In past attempts to unmask Nakamoto, the market has sometimes reacted wildly, but not this time. The lack of concrete evidence likely kept any volatility in check, and most traders seem to be shrugging it off.

For now, the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto remains one of finance’s most enduring mysteries, but it seems the search may never end.