The HBO documentary “Cash Electrical: The Bitcoin Thriller” boldly claims that Canadian Bitcoin developer Peter Todd is Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin.
Produced by Cullen Hobak, the documentary presents some circumstantial proof in its 100-minute run to help this conclusion.
Why HBO believes Todd is Satoshi
Todd, one of many early individuals within the BTC group, believes that he used the id of Satoshi to extend the credibility of Bitcoin.
In line with Hobak, the pseudonym appeared that Bitcoin was created by a longtime cryptographer fairly than a “pupil”. Todd was finishing his Bachelor of Arts when the Bitcoin whitepaper was launched in 2008.
The documentary goes on to construct its case on circumstantial proof, together with Todd's mysterious on-line posts.
One such put up, the place Todd described himself as “the world's main professional on find out how to sacrifice your bitcoins”, was interpreted as a doable admission that he had destroyed entry to the estimated 1.1 million BTC attributed to Nakamoto.
Additional hypothesis arose from claims that Todd as soon as by accident posted a put up from Satoshi's account on the BitcoinTalk discussion board in 2010.
Moreover, Todd's protection of the controversial Change-by-Payment (RBF) proposal is highlighted. The doc means that solely somebody intimately acquainted with the unique Bitcoin code – like Nakamoto – may have carried out such a technical characteristic.
Bettors at Polymarket had been largely unsuitable.
The HBO principle induced important losses on the decentralized prediction platform Polymarket, the place customers had been betting closely on Len Sassaman, a cypherpunk who died in 2021, as Satoshi. As of October 5, Sassaman had a 67% likelihood, however his possibilities dropped under 10% by October 8.
Earlier than the documentary, Nick Szabo, a widely known cryptographer, and Adam Again, CEO of Blockstream, appeared as pioneers. Nevertheless, the market ultimately concluded that Satoshi's id was both unknown or a mixture of a number of individuals.
Polymarket's fund recorded over $44 million in trades earlier than the movie's launch.
Group resistance
The documentary was met with sturdy criticism from key figures within the crypto house. Todd himself denied Hoback's declare within the documentary, calling it “ridiculous”. He additionally particularly said on X:
“I'm not Satoshi.
Pledditor, a widely known member of the Bitcoin group, criticized the paper, claiming that each one of Nakamoto's theories endure from affirmation bias.
Pledditor defined that theorists usually give attention to a number of notable figures and retrospectively discover “coincidences” that help their claims. In line with them, this technique is flawed and results in stalking and unethical doxxing. added:
They added:
“The probability that Satoshi was one among these semi-public figures who’re often accused of being Satoshi could be very small. For this reason, except you may have concrete proof, it is best to most likely maintain your theories about Satoshi Nakamoto's id to your self. All it does is put a $60 billion bounty on the again of (almost certainly) the unsuitable particular person.”
Ki Younger Ju, the founding father of CryptoQuant, went as far as to name the paper “disgusting” as a result of it reached its conclusion regardless of dissent from Bitcoin specialists. He likened it to selling the flat earth principle with out scientific scrutiny.
BitMEX Analysis additionally dismissed the speculation that Todd is Satoshi based mostly on a 2010 BitcoinTalk put up, calling the suggestion “ridiculous.” The agency said that Todd's put up was merely a sarcastic response to Satoshi, including:
“There is no such thing as a cause to imagine it was Satoshi.
In the meantime, Muneeb Ali, CEO of Belief Machines and co-creator of the Stacks blockchain, mentioned:
“Simply so we're all clear: peter todd isn’t satoshi.” anybody who has labored significantly within the bitcoin business is aware of that.”
