HBO Documentary Says Peter Todd Is Bitcoin Creator Satoshi Nakamoto

HBO’s just launched Bitcoin documentary, Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery, was just released, and it names former Bitcoin developer Peter Todd as Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator.

The documentary proposes evidence that suggests Todd is Satoshi Nakamoto, including that a 2010 post on BitcoinTalk by Satoshi Nakamoto was inadvertently made from Todd’s account, and that Todd had left a cryptic messages suggesting he had destroyed access to the 1.1 million BTC tokens held in Satoshi Nakamoto-linked wallets.

But Todd has already vehemently denied these accusations. Responding to leaks of parts of the HBO documentary prior to its release at 9pm Eastern Time, Todd told the press “I’m not Satoshi”.

“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,” he added.

Peter Todd is referring to filmmaker Cullen Hoback, who directed Money Electric, and previously identified the person behind the QAnon conspiracy theory in an earlier HBO series.

HBO’s Satoshi Nakamoto Claim Draws Scepticism

The crypto community has been instantly skeptical of HBO’s Satoshi Nakamoto claim.

X user PixOnChain debunks the “2010 BitcoinTalk post” claim, explaining that it probably wasn’t a follow-up comment from Satoshi accidentally made from Todd’s account.

"A 2010 BitcoinTalk post…"

HBO suggests that Peter Todd accidentally revealed himself as Satoshi by forgetting to switch accounts

A follow-up post a few minutes later would make sense, but one appearing 13 hours later seems more like a straightforward comment

4/10 pic.twitter.com/lzsEsqONga

— Pix🔎 (@PixOnChain) October 9, 2024

And he claims that the “cryptic message” about destroying the 1.1 million tokens was a joke taken out of context.

Finally, the cryptic message about "sacrificing" bitcoins

This was a joke taken out of context

Todd referred to proving blockchain integrity, not confessing to destroying access to Satoshi’s 1.1 million BTC

A very far-fetched stretch…

6/10

— Pix🔎 (@PixOnChain) October 9, 2024

The BitMEX Research team, meanwhile, called HBO’s claim that Peter Todd is Satoshi “ridiculous”. Reffering to the 2010 BitcoinTalk comment made by Todd, BitMEX argues that “there is zero reason to believe this was Satoshi”.

According to Forbes, HBO will say that @peterktodd is Satoshi…

The Forbes article states that "a 2010 BitcoinTalk post replying to Satoshi Nakamoto that [Cullen] Hoback believes was accidentally posted using Todd's profile"

This is clearly ridiculous! It is just an example of… pic.twitter.com/mjFnHn7Zak

— BitMEX Research (@BitMEXResearch) October 8, 2024

Peter Todd Meme Coins Go Wild

Whilst HBO’s claims have drawn major scepticism and don’t seem to have closed the book on the Satoshi mystery, that hasn’t stopped meme coin degens from feverishly speculating.

One of the best performing new meme coins was $YOURMOM, which has surged a stunning 9,500% since launching early in the day, per DEXTools.

$YOURMOM was created in reaction to rising speculation that Todd would be named as Satoshi earlier in the day, and is a reference to a joke he once made saying the name of his cat was “your mom”.

That caught the attention of Peter Todd, who gave the meme coin a shoutout on his Twitter, even if he was mocking the logic behind one callers investment thesis in the token.

JUST IN: Peter Todd (@peterktodd) is shilling a Solana memecoin moments after the HBO Bitcoin $BTC documentary release $YOURMOM https://t.co/G0uM1IqsEb pic.twitter.com/q6Ff58k2ac

— BlockNews.com (@blocknewsdotcom) October 9, 2024

The question of who Satoshi Nakamoto is seemingly remains unsettled. Maybe that’s for the best – the mystery of Bitcoin’s anonymous and absent creator has been key to fostering the idea of Bitcoin as a decentralized, digital alternative to gold.

But at least some meme coin degens were able to make a quick buck in the meantime.

Disclaimer: Crypto is a high-risk asset class. This article is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice. You could lose all of your capital.