Following the release of HBO’s documentary Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery on Tuesday night, former Bitcoin Core developer Gregory Maxwell criticized the filmmaker’s claim that Bitcoin’s (BTC) elusive founder, Satoshi Nakamoto, was actually one of the original Bitcoin developers, Peter Todd.
Directed by Cullen Hoback, the two-hour documentary presents itself as a comprehensive investigation into the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto. Featuring interviews with prominent figures in the Bitcoin community, the documentary analyzes various clues before zeroing in on Todd as the mysterious founder, a claim that Todd quickly denied.
Hoback’s claim centers on a 2010 post on the BitcoinTalk forum claiming that Todd had mistakenly continued Satoshi’s message from his own account. He also notes that Todd later implemented Bitcoin’s fee-swapping feature, which was discussed in the same thread. Fee-swapping is a mechanism that allows users to swap unconfirmed transactions for ones with higher fees in order to speed up transactions.
Hoback points to several pieces of evidence to support his theory, including Todd’s use of the pseudonym “John Dillon” when promoting the fee-based exchange feature, his use of British and Canadian spellings similar to Satoshi’s, and a posting pattern that aligns with Todd’s student program. Hoback also cites a conversation where Todd talked about “sacrificing” Bitcoins, suggesting that this was an allusion to Satoshi destroying 1.1 million BTC worth an estimated $68 billion.
However, Maxwell disputed these claims in a discussion thread shortly after the documentary aired. She noted that Todd’s account at the time was called “retep” and had no direct connection to his real identity. “If this was a mistake, he could have easily abandoned his account later rather than renaming it to his legal name,” Maxwell wrote.
Maxwell also warned against accusing people of being Satoshi, as such claims have previously led to threats and blackmail targeting people and their families.
Responding to Maxwell's statement on X (formerly Twitter), Todd said: “Excellent observation by Gregory Maxwell. If Cullen Hoback really wanted to find Satoshi, he would have presented his theories to Adam Back and me to check for flaws like this.”
*This is not investment advice.