A new HBO documentary claims to uncover a mystery of the modern world—the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin.
Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery declares it to be Peter Todd, a Canadian software developer. Todd, however, has called this idea “ludicrous” and “grasping at straws”.
Circumstantial evidence like Todd’s involvement with Bitcoin in its early days and forum posts back up the docu’s claims. In a 2010 forum thread, Todd seemed to complete Nakamoto’s thoughts, leading many to believe he was Nakamoto and accidentally switched accounts.
Over the years, many have tried to solve this mystery and there have been several suspects, including Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright—who declared himself Satoshi Nakamoto, and Dorian Nakamoto, named by Newsweek. Even New York Times got in on the game, naming computer scientist Nick Szabo. But all of these allegations have been discredited.
The implications of uncovering Nakamoto’s identity are huge—his wallets reportedly have 1.1 million bitcoins, worth a whopping US$62 billion. Any movement in his Bitcoin holdings could single-handedly cause a crash in the cryptocurrency market.