In the new HBO documentary “Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery Documentary”, filmmaker Cullen Hobak posits that Peter Todd, a prominent Canadian Bitcoin core developer, is the elusive Bitcoin creator known as Satoshi Nakamoto. Despite the sensational claims, the evidence presented falls short of conclusive, leading to significant criticism from the BTC community.
Peter Todd, known for his substantial contributions to Bitcoin’s development post-2012, including the introduction of the replace-by-fee (RBF) protocol and work on OpenTimestamps, has been a prominent figure in the Bitcoin space. However, associating him with the creation of Bitcoin has raised eyebrows due to inconsistencies in timelines and the nature of the evidence presented.
Why Peter Todd Is Not The Bitcoin Inventor
The documentary builds its case around four main points:
#1 Use Of A Pseudonym For Credibility
HBO suggests that Todd adopted the Satoshi Nakamoto pseudonym to lend Bitcoin the necessary credibility during its inception. This claim is contentious, considering that in 2008, when the BTC whitepaper was published, Todd was completing a fine arts degree and had not yet entered the cryptography or computer science fields.
His involvement in Bitcoin did not begin until 2012, four years after its creation. There is no documented evidence of Todd participating in cryptographic discussions or projects prior to this period, making the assertion that he needed a pseudonym to be taken seriously implausible.
#2 A 2010 BitcoinTalk Post
A significant piece of evidence presented is a 2010 post on the BitcoinTalk forum, allegedly made from Todd’s account, which HBO interprets as Todd mistakenly posting as himself instead of under the Satoshi alias. Critics point out that the post in question appeared 13 hours after a message from Satoshi, diminishing the likelihood of it being an accidental account mix-up.
Furthermore, the content of the post does not exhibit any continuation of thought or style that would suggest it was inadvertently made by Satoshi while logged into Todd’s account. Instead, it appears as a standard interaction within the forum, consistent with the practices of users at the time.
#3 Replace-By-Fee Proposal As Pre-Planned
The documentary posits that Todd’s introduction of the RBF protocol in 2014 was premeditated and linked to Satoshi’s earlier work, insinuating that this was part of a long-term plan laid out by BTC’s creator.
Industry experts refute this, noting that RBF was one of many enhancements proposed to address Bitcoin’s scalability and transaction malleability issues, emerging from ongoing community discussions and research. There is no concrete evidence to suggest that RBF was envisioned during BTC’s initial development or that it serves as a hidden signature of Satoshi’s identity within Todd’s later contributions.
#4 Cryptic Message About Sacrificing Bitcoins
HBO highlights a message where Todd speaks about being an expert in “sacrificing coins,” interpreting it as an admission of destroying access to Satoshi’s estimated 1.1 million BTC holdings. This interpretation is widely criticized as a misrepresentation.
The context of Todd’s statement pertains to demonstrating blockchain integrity and experimenting with coin destruction to test network responses, a practice not uncommon among developers exploring the limits and functionalities of blockchain technology. The leap to conclude that this indicates he eliminated access to a massive fortune lacks substantiation.
Several experts from the BTC community have expressed skepticism and disapproval of the documentary’s conclusions. Pix (@PixOnChain), an advisor to Mintify and researcher at Jirasan, dissected HBO’s claims point by point on X (formerly Twitter).
Another popular X account, Pledditor (@Pledditor), highlights the irony in the documentary’s narrative, which initially suggests that revealing Satoshi’s identity could endanger his safety, only to proceed with accusing Todd without definitive proof. “That was one of the least compelling Satoshi Nakamoto identities I’ve ever seen,” Pledditor writes. He pointed out that the strongest piece of evidence—the supposed continuation of Satoshi’s thoughts by Todd on the forum—was not compelling and appeared to be Todd correcting Satoshi, a common practice in technical discussions.
Peter Todd himself responded to the documentary’s allegations, where he appeared unperturbed and somewhat amused by the claims. He remarked, “This is going to be very funny when you put this into the documentary and a bunch of bitcoiners watch it.”
At press time, BTC traded at $62,424.
Featured image from YouTube /PlanB, chart from TradingView.com
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