Leaked
clips
from
HBO’s
soon-to-premiere
Satoshi
Nakamoto
documentary
seem
to
finger
former
Bitcoin
developer
Peter
Todd
as
the
cryptocurrency’s
creator
–
but
Todd
denies
it.
In
an
email
to
CoinDesk,
Todd
said
filmmaker
Cullen
Hoback,
best
known
for
identifying
the
person
behind
the
QAnon
conspiracy
theory
in
an
earlier
series
for
HBO,
was
“grasping
at
straws”
if
he’s
identifying
Todd
as
Satoshi.
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“Yes,
that
interview
did
happen
and
I
believe
that
specific
shot
isn’t
deepfaked,”
he
confirmed,
though
he
added
he
had
not
yet
seen
the
documentary.
“Of
course,
I’m
not
Satoshi,”
Todd
said.
“It’s
ironic
that
a
director
who
is
also
known
for
a
documentary
on
QAnon
has
resorted
to
QAnon
style
coincidence-based
conspiracy
thinking
here
too.”
On
Tuesday
afternoon
in
New
York,
hours
before
the
scheduled
premiere
of
“Money
Electric:
the
Bitcoin
Mystery,”
the
odds
on
Polymarket’s
bet
over
whom
the
film
will
identify
as
Satoshi
overwhelmingly
(78.5%
at
the
time
of
publication)
favored
“Other/Multiple.”
Previously,
cypherpunk
Len
Sassaman
and
then
computer
programmer
Nick
Szabo
held
the
lead
on
Polymarket’s
list
of
possible
HBO-toshi’s.
At
the
time
of
the
Polymarket
bet’s
creation,
Todd
was
not
listed
as
a
possibility,
so
anyone
who
wanted
to
bet
on
him
being
the
film’s
“reveal”
would
have
to
choose
“Other/Multiple.”
Even
in
the
clips
circulating
on
social
media,
Todd
calls
the
theory
that
he
is
Satoshi
“ludicrous.”
To
be
clear:
Only
snippets
of
the
film
are
circulating
online
and
it’s
possible
that
in
the
end
Hoback
reaches
a
different
conclusion
about
Satoshi’s
identity
than
he
does
in
the
scene
with
Todd.
In
that
scene,
Hoback
appears
to
confront
Todd,
laying
out
his
theory
of
how
and
why
Todd
hid
his
supposed
involvement
in
the
invention
of
Bitcoin.
Todd
shakes
his
head
and
laughs
at
Hoback’s
assertions.
“I
will
admit
you’re
pretty
creative.
You
come
up
with
some
crazy
theories.
It’s
ludicrous,”
Todd
says
in
the
clip.
“But
I’ll
say,
yeah,
of
course
I’m
Satoshi.
And
I’m
Craig
Wright.”
This
is
clearly
a
joke,
not
a
confession:
Todd
has
previously
made
similar
cracks
that
he
“is
Satoshi,”
telling
“What
Bitcoin
Did”
podcast
host
Peter
McCormack
in
a
2019
interview:
“I
am
Satoshi,
as
is
everyone
else.”
As
the
video
clip
continues,
Todd,
still
laughing,
warns
Hoback
that
he’s
drawn
an
incorrect
conclusion.
“This
is
going
to
be
very
funny
when
you
put
this
into
the
documentary
and
a
bunch
of
bitcoiners
watch
it,”
Todd
said.
“I
suspect
a
lot
of
them
will
be
very
happy
if
you
go
this
route
because
it’s
yet
another
example
of
journalists
really
missing
the
point
in
a
way
that’s
very
funny.”
Hoback
responds
by
asking
what
the
point
is.
“The
point
is
to
make
bitcoin
the
global
currency,”
Todd
responds.
A
few
seconds
from
the
scene
appear
in
the
official
trailer
for
the
film.
Blockstream
CEO
Adam
Back,
who
appears
to
be
standing
next
to
Todd
in
the
clip,
did
not
respond
to
a
request
for
comment
from
CoinDesk.
Though
an
early
Bitcoin
developer
and
someone
deeply
involved
in
the
early
years
of
Bitcoin,
Todd
has
never
been
a
prime
suspect
in
journalists’
years-long
hunt
for
Satoshi.
Figures
like
Hal
Finney,
Nick
Szabo
and
Back
are
most
frequently
suggested
to
be
the
creator
of
Bitcoin,
though
all
have
denied
it.
During
the
McCormack
podcast,
Todd
said
that
he
bought
his
first
bitcoin
when
the
price
per
coin
was
20
cents
(which
would
mean
he
made
the
purchase
around
October
2010,
two
years
after
the
bitcoin
white
paper
was
released).
Back
posted
on
X
Monday
that,
“for
people
betting,
they
are
betting
on
what
the
documentary
concluded.
Which
is
probably
not
going
to
be
true,
because
no
one
knows
who
Satoshi
is.
So
they
should
keep
that
in
mind.”
Previous
attempts
by
the
media
to
unveil
Satoshi’s
true
identity
have
failed,
with
outlets
incorrectly
naming
figures
like
programmer
Dorian
Nakamoto
and
known-pretender
Craig
Wright
as
Satoshi.