Peter Todd Denies Being Bitcoin Creator Satoshi Nakamoto

Canadian programmer Peter Todd denies being Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin (BTC).

“I’m not Satoshi,” Todd tweeted yesterday, hours after a documentary from HBO alleged that he created the world’s largest cryptocurrency. 

While debates about Nakamoto’s real identity have cooled off, HBO recently triggered discussion around the subject yesterday following the release of its highly anticipated documentary titled “Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery.” 

HBO Identifies Todd as Nakamoto 

The documentary, which has a runtime of 1 hour and 40 minutes, was directed by popular filmmaker Cullen Hoback. In it, Hoback identified Todd as the creator of the premier crypto asset. 

The filmmaker’s assertion was unexpected. Todd’s name was not even on the list of individuals Polymarket bettors expected to be named Nakamoto. Notably, Todd was only 23 years old when the Bitcoin whitepaper was published in 2008. 

Although Todd contributed immensely to the early development of Bitcoin, no one expected he would be identified as Nakamoto in the HBO documentary. 

Nonetheless, Hoback asserted that Todd was Nakamoto. The filmmaker reached the conclusion following a three-year investigation that involved interviewing early Bitcoin contributors and analyzing some ancient BTC-related messages. 

Alleged Evidence

Interestingly, Hoback provided several pieces of evidence in the documentary to corroborate his claim that Todd was Satoshi Nakamoto. One piece of evidence featured a discussion between Todd and Nakamoto in a Bitcoin forum, Bitcointalk, in 2010. 

According to Hoback, the message seemed like Todd was completing the Bitcoin creator’s line of reasoning, suggesting that the former may have accidentally completed the post using his main account. 

Following this “mistake,” both Nakamoto and Todd’s accounts stopped posting on the forum. The filmmaker noted that both Nakamoto and Todd used British/Canadian spellings while writing. 

Interestingly, Todd implemented the “replace by fee” feature on the Bitcoin network. This feature was discussed during their conversation on Bitcointalk. 

Notably, HBO claims that Todd implemented the replace-by-fee feature using the pseudonym “John Dillion,” making it seem like a different person implemented it. 

Another piece of evidence Hoback cited was Nakamoto’s posting schedule on Bitcointalk, which shows he was more active on weekends. This schedule aligns with a student’s timeline, where weekends are usually considered to be free days. 

Despite these claims, Todd publicly denied he was Nakamoto. He made the comment after an X user asked him to stop making sarcastic comments about the claim. 

I’m not Satoshi.

— Peter Todd (@peterktodd) October 8, 2024

Mystery Behind Bitcoin’s Creator

Launched in 2009, Bitcoin remains one of the greatest tech innovations in the world. Since its introduction, it has grown to a market cap of $1.22 trillion, with one BTC currently priced at $62,027. 

Given Bitcoin’s remarkable success over the years, crypto enthusiasts have been eager to know the real identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of BTC. 

Some crypto stakeholders, like Australian computer scientist Craig Wright, have claimed to be among the team that created Bitcoin. On the other hand, others, like Ripple CTO David Schwartz, have been alleged to be Nakamoto.