In the new HBO documentary “Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery Documentary,” filmmaker Cullen Hobak claims that Peter Todd, a prominent Canadian Bitcoin developer, is the elusive Bitcoin creator known as Satoshi Nakamoto. Despite the sensational claims, the evidence presented is inconclusive, which has sparked significant criticism from the BTC community.
Peter Todd, known for his substantial contributions to the development of Bitcoin after 2012, including the introduction of the Replacement Fee (RBF) protocol and his work on OpenTimestamps, is a prominent figure in the Bitcoin space. However, associating it with the creation of Bitcoin has raised eyebrows due to inconsistencies in the timing and nature of the evidence presented.
Why Peter Todd is not the inventor of Bitcoin
The documentary builds its argument around four main points:
#1 Using a Pseudonym for Added Credibility
HBO suggests that Todd adopted the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto to give Bitcoin the credibility it needed during its creation. This claim is controversial, given that in 2008 when the BTC white paper was published, Todd was completing a fine arts degree and had not yet entered the fields of cryptography or computer science.
Its involvement in Bitcoin only began in 2012, four years after its creation. There is no documented evidence of Todd’s participation in crypto discussions or projects before this period, making the claim that he needed a pseudonym to be taken seriously implausible.
#2 A BitcoinTalk article from 2010
One important piece of evidence presented is a 2010 post on the BitcoinTalk forum, purportedly made from Todd’s account, which HBO interprets as Todd mistakenly posting under his Satoshi pseudonym. Critics point out that the post in question appeared 13 hours after a post from Satoshi, which lessens the likelihood that it was an accidental account mix-up.
Additionally, the content of the post does not exhibit any continuation of thought or style that would suggest that it was inadvertently written by Satoshi while logged into Todd’s account. Instead, it appears as standard interaction within the forum, consistent with user practices of the time.
#3 Proposed replacement with fees as expected
The documentary posits that Todd’s introduction of the RBF protocol in 2014 was premeditated and linked to Satoshi’s previous work, insinuating that it was part of a long-term plan hatched by the BTC creator.
Industry experts refute this claim, noting that RBF was one of several proposed improvements to address Bitcoin’s scalability and transaction malleability issues, emerging from ongoing community discussions and research. There is no concrete evidence to suggest that the RBF was considered during the initial development of BTC or that it serves as a hidden signature of Satoshi’s identity in Todd’s later contributions.
#4 Enigmatic message about the sacrifice of Bitcoins
HBO highlights a post in which Todd talks about being an expert at “coin sacrifice”, interpreting it as an admission of destroying access to Satoshi’s estimated holdings of 1.1 million BTC. This interpretation is widely criticized as a misrepresentation.
The context of Todd’s statement concerns demonstrating blockchain integrity and experimenting with coin destruction to test network responses, a common practice among developers exploring the limits and capabilities of blockchain technology. The conclusion that this indicates he eliminated access to massive wealth is unfounded.
Several experts in the BTC community have expressed skepticism and disapproval of the documentary’s findings. Pix (@PixOnChain), advisor to Mintify and researcher at Jirasan, dissected HBO’s claims on X (formerly Twitter) point by point.
Another popular “This was one of the least convincing Satoshi Nakamoto identities I have ever seen,” Pledditor writes. He pointed out that the strongest piece of evidence – Todd’s alleged continuation of Satoshi’s thoughts on the forum – was unconvincing and appeared to be Todd correcting Satoshi, a common practice in technical discussions.
Peter Todd himself responded to the allegations in the documentary, where he appeared unfazed and somewhat amused by the claims. He remarked: “It’s going to be very funny when you put this in the documentary and a bunch of bitcoiners watch it.”
At press time, BTC was trading at $62,424.
Featured image from YouTube/PlanB, chart from TradingView.com
