In the new HBO documentary “Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery Documentary,” director Colin Hoback posits that Peter Todd, the prominent Canadian Bitcoin core developer, is the elusive Bitcoin creator known as Satoshi Nakamoto. Despite the sensational claims, the evidence presented is not conclusive, leading to significant criticism from the Bitcoin community.
Peter Todd, known for his significant contributions to the development of Bitcoin after 2012, including the introduction of the Replacement Fee (RBF) protocol and work on OpenTimestamps, has been a prominent figure in the Bitcoin space. However, linking it to the creation of Bitcoin has raised eyebrows due to inconsistencies in the timelines and nature of the evidence presented.
Why Peter Todd is not the inventor of Bitcoin
The documentary builds its case around four main points:
#1 Use a pseudonym for credibility
HBO suggests that Todd adopted the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto to lend the necessary credibility to Bitcoin during its infancy. This claim is controversial, considering that in 2008, when the Bitcoin white paper was published, Todd was completing his studies in fine arts and had not yet entered the fields of cryptography or computer science.
His involvement with Bitcoin did not begin until 2012, four years after its creation. There is no documented evidence of Todd’s involvement in crypto discussions or projects before this period, making the assertion that he needed a pseudonym to be taken seriously implausible.
#2 BitcoinTalk post of 2010
One significant piece of evidence presented is a 2010 post on the BitcoinTalk forum, allegedly created from Todd’s account, which HBO interprets as Todd mistakenly posting under his personal name instead of the pseudonym Satoshi. Critics point out that the post in question appeared 13 hours after a message from Satoshi, making it less likely that it was an accidental error in the account.
Furthermore, the content of the post does not show any continuity of thought or style that might indicate that it was inadvertently created by Satoshi while logged into the TOD account. Instead, it appears as a standard interaction within the forum, consistent with user practices at the time.
#3 Propose a fee replacement as previously planned
The documentary posits that Todd’s introduction of the RBF protocol in 2014 was premeditated and linked to Satoshi’s previous work, insinuating that this was part of a long-term plan by Bitcoin’s creator.
Industry experts refute this, noting that RBF was one of several improvements proposed to address Bitcoin’s scalability and transaction malleability issues, which arose from ongoing community discussions and research. There is no concrete evidence to suggest that RBF was conceived during the initial development of BTC or that it served as a hidden signature of Satoshi’s identity within Todd’s later contributions.
#4 Crypto message about sacrificing bitcoins
HBO highlights a message in which Todd talks about being an expert at “coin sacrifice,” interpreting this as an admission of destroying access to Satoshi’s estimated 1.1 million Bitcoin holdings. This interpretation is widely criticized as a distortion.
The context of Todd’s statement relates to demonstrating the integrity of the blockchain and experimenting with destroying the coin to test network responses, a practice that is not uncommon among developers exploring the limits and functions of blockchain technology. The leap to conclude that this indicates that he blocked access to enormous wealth lacks proof.
Many experts from the BTC community expressed their doubts and disagreement with the documentary’s conclusions. Pix (@PixOnChain), Consultant at Mintify and Researcher at Jirasan, anatomy HBO point-by-point claims on X (formerly Twitter).
Another popular X account, Pledditor (@Pledditor), Highlights The irony of the documentary’s narrative is that it initially suggests that revealing Satoshi’s identity might jeopardize his safety, only to go ahead and accuse Todd without conclusive evidence. “That was one of the least convincing Satoshi Nakamoto identities I’ve ever seen,” Pledator wrote. He noted that the strongest evidence — Todd’s supposed continuation of Satoshi’s ideas in the forum — was not convincing and appeared to have Todd correct Satoshi, a common practice in technical discussions.
Peter Todd himself responded to the documentary’s claims, appearing unfazed and somewhat amused by the claims. he Notice“This is going to be very funny when you put this in the documentary and a bunch of Bitcoin users watch it.”
At press time, Bitcoin was trading at $62,424.
Featured image from YouTube /PlanB, chart from TradingView.com
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