In Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery, Cullen Hoback investigates whether Peter Todd, a Canadian crypto expert and software developer, is the elusive Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin's creator.
HBO’s 2024 documentary, Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery, delves into the enduring enigma of Bitcoin's creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, and introduces a new suspect—Canadian crypto expert and software developer Peter Todd. Directed by Cullen Hoback, the documentary follows Todd's early involvement in Bitcoin's development and his connections with prominent figures like Blockstream CEO Adam Back. Despite Todd's dismissive attitude towards the theory, the film uses circumstantial evidence, such as forum posts, to hint at his potential role in Bitcoin's creation.
In the roughly 100-minute feature, Hoback delves into the rise and fall of cryptocurrency, from its inception in 2009 to Bitcoin's surprising resilience despite market crashes. Central to the narrative is the ongoing quest to unmask Nakamoto, a figure who vanished two years after Bitcoin’s launch. While the documentary paints Todd as an “unlikely candidate hiding in plain sight,” the claims remain speculative. Todd, who joined Bitcoin's development in 2013, has repeatedly laughed off the suggestion that he is Nakamoto, even humorously declaring himself as such in the film but without offering any real proof.
The film begins by highlighting Bitcoin's genesis block, mined on January 3, 2009, in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. This marked the official launch of the blockchain, a decentralized digital ledger. Nakamoto had published a white paper a few months earlier, outlining Bitcoin’s peer-to-peer electronic cash system, which would allow users to send payments without intermediaries such as banks or financial institutions. The early stages of Bitcoin were largely driven by miners who, using computing power, helped verify transactions without receiving any monetary equivalent.
Satoshi Nakamoto, whose true identity remains unknown, had been involved in cryptography circles prior to Bitcoin’s creation. Known only through online message boards and emails, Nakamoto's contributions were essential to the early development of Bitcoin. The pseudonym is believed to represent a single person or group, with various theories suggesting individuals like Adam Back, Hal Finney, and Nick Szabo as potential creators. In 2011, Nakamoto disappeared from public communication, leaving Bitcoin’s development to others while retaining a mysterious status in the cryptocurrency world.
Throughout the documentary, Hoback builds his case using a mix of circumstantial evidence, including a 2010 Bitcoin forum post where Todd seemingly corrected Satoshi. This interaction raised suspicions, especially since Todd later implemented the technical solution discussed in the thread, known as “replace-by-fee.” When confronted on camera about the theory, Todd denied being Satoshi, calling the idea "ludicrous." However, Hoback found Todd’s visible nervousness and Adam Back's silence during the confrontation noteworthy.
Peter Todd has been a divisive figure in the Bitcoin community, often criticizing some of Nakamoto’s ideas. In podcasts and social media posts, Todd has questioned decisions like Bitcoin’s hard cap of 21 million coins, a stance rarely taken in a community that reveres Nakamoto's original concepts. Hoback interprets this behavior as potential evidence supporting his theory, noting Todd's critical fixation on Satoshi's decisions. In one 2015 post, Todd wrote, “I think Bitcoin is a great example of how sometimes world-changing ideas are actually pretty simple,” which Hoback views as an insight into Todd's possible role in Bitcoin’s creation.
The documentary’s evidence remains circumstantial, and Todd continues to deny the claim that he is Nakamoto. He maintains that the quest to unmask Bitcoin’s creator is both “dumb” and “dangerous.” Adam Back, who has also been linked to Satoshi speculation, dismissed the theory on social media, asserting that no one knows Satoshi's true identity. Despite the uncertainty, Hoback hopes Money Electric will spark further investigations, encouraging the crypto community to consider his evidence and dig deeper into the identity of the mysterious Bitcoin creator.