Technology

A documentary reveals the mystery surrounding the identity of the creator of the world's most important cryptocurrency and its global impact.

The production, which has drawn both criticism and praise, is a deep dive into the creator behind this cryptocurrency. GETTY PHOTO

Since Bitcoin emerged in 2009, the enigma of who is behind its creation has captured the imagination of technologists, economists and cryptocurrency enthusiasts around the world.

Its creator, known under the pseudonym “Satoshi Nakamoto,” has remained completely anonymous for more than a decade, leaving behind a legacy that has transformed the global financial system. For some, Satoshi is an almost mythological figure and his creation marked the birth of a new era in digital finance.

Over the years, there have been theories of all kinds. From the possibility that Nakamoto is a group of people, to speculations that point to specific figures in the world of technology.

Its real name has been a puzzle that journalists, researchers and fans have tried to solve without success, to the point that the mystery has acquired an almost religious character among the most staunch defenders of the cryptocurrency, as explained by investor Michael Saylor, who compared the birth of Bitcoin to an “immaculate conception.”

The interest is not merely symbolic, however: Nakamoto, who has not spoken publicly in years, controls more than 1 million bitcoins, worth about $60 billion — enough to significantly influence the volatile cryptocurrency market if he decided to intervene.

Now, a new documentary has revived interest in the character. Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery, released on the Max platform, has sparked a wave of debate and discussion. Directed by filmmaker Cullen Hoback, the production suggests that Nakamoto did not retire as was believed, but has continued to influence the evolution of the business from the shadows.

Three years of research and several discarded theories lead Hoback to maintain that Satoshi's true identity is Peter Todd, a controversial Canadian Bitcoin developer.

While Todd denies being Satoshi, the clues presented by Hoback have generated massive attention.

What is it and how does it work?

Bitcoin was born in early 2009, in the midst of a global financial crisis that sparked the need for an alternative system to government and banking control over money.

With a spirit of innovation and a vision of decentralization, cryptocurrency allowed people around the world to make transactions without relying on intermediaries. This drastic change was made possible by blockchain technology, a system that still guarantees transparency and security today.

Unlike cash, where central banks have the power to adjust monetary policies, Bitcoin is based on the law of supply and demand. As José Daniel Montoya Ramírez explains in his research Bitcoin: A Financial Innovation, from UPB, this cryptocurrency is different because it is completely independent of any government. “Its value fluctuates solely based on the market and its availability is limited, which has led some to see it as a store of value, in the style of gold.”

Montoya highlights how Bitcoin has not only revolutionized e-commerce, but has expanded the boundaries of digital money. “Today, you can use it to buy anything from a coffee in Berlin to a house in Miami, all from your computer or mobile phone. And most importantly, without going through banks, credit cards or any other traditional intermediary.”

Bitcoin's core lies in its security system, based on digital signature cryptography. Each transaction is recorded in a block, which is added to a public chain that can be seen by anyone, ensuring total transparency, although its volatility and lack of regulation have also raised concerns.

While other cryptocurrencies have emerged on the market, none have achieved the global impact of Bitcoin. Montoya points out that one of the key reasons is the gradual adoption in various markets, which has allowed this cryptocurrency to begin to be accepted as a means of payment in various parts of the world, although it still faces barriers to becoming a commonly used currency. Time will tell if Bitcoin will be able to overcome these challenges, but what is clear is that its creation marked a before and after in the history of finance and technology.

The clues behind Nakamoto

The film presents a series of clues linking Todd to the mysterious founder of Bitcoin. Director Hoback previously gained notoriety for his investigation into the QAnon conspiracy theory and embarked on this new project at the suggestion of executive producer Adam McKay. Over the course of three years, he investigated the Cypherpunks, a group of libertarian technologists who sought to protect individual privacy in the digital age, and who influenced the development of Bitcoin.

The investigation led him to Adam Back, a British cryptographer whose work on Hashcash technology was one of the foundations for Bitcoin’s structure. During one of their conversations, Back introduced Hoback to Peter Todd, a developer who the director says immediately caught his attention. Hoback describes the dynamic between Back and Todd as having an air of “spy-versus-spy,” which aroused his suspicions.

One of the most telling clues the documentary offers is a series of posts on a Bitcoin forum in 2010. In one of his last posts, Satoshi proposed a technical change to improve Bitcoin’s code, and Todd — unknown to the community at the time — responded with what appeared to be a correction. To Hoback, this exchange was a mistake: Todd had forgotten to log out as Satoshi and had responded from his personal account. Years later, the same fix was implemented in Bitcoin’s code, known as replace-by-fee. This connection, according to Hoback, was one of the strongest pieces of evidence to support his theory.

Not everyone is convinced, however. TIME magazine interviewed four Bitcoin pioneers, who expressed doubts about Todd’s ability to create something as complex as Bitcoin, citing his coding skills and temperament. One commented that “Todd’s coding abilities are not on par with the Bitcoin codebase.” Hoback, however, remains steadfast in his conviction: “People have an idealized view of who Satoshi should be, they want someone perfect to fit their ideals,” he says in the documentary. “But this is where the evidence is, and I think the case is very strong.”

Todd has steadfastly denied being Satoshi. On the tape, when Hoback confronts him with the evidence, he reacts nervously, laughing and muttering to himself. Adam Back, who was present during this confrontation, made no comment, which Hoback considers as revealing as the evidence itself. Todd argues that if he really were the creator of Bitcoin, he would have destroyed “the ability to prove that I was Satoshi,” and in an email to TIME he called the search for Nakamoto’s true identity “foolish and dangerous.”

Although the documentary has generated controversy, Hoback is confident in his conclusion: “I am very, very confident that Todd is Satoshi. When I listed the pros and cons, the reasons why it couldn’t be him were very few.” Despite statements of skepticism from some early Bitcoin users, the clues presented have left the door open to the possibility that the mystery of Satoshi Nakamoto has finally been solved.

However, doubts remain. As Adam Back put it on social media X after the trailer was released: “The documentary will presumably be wrong, since no one knows who Satoshi is.”

Peter Todd's life after the documentary

Since the release of Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery, Peter Todd has faced a number of consequences after being outed as Satoshi Nakamoto. Despite his constant denials, the media attention and risks associated with Satoshi's alleged identity have drastically changed his life.

In a recent interview with Wired, Todd explained that he agreed to participate in the HBO documentary thinking it would be a historical account of the origins of Bitcoin, rather than an investigation aimed at exposing Nakamoto's identity.

However, the turn the production took has left him at the centre of controversy, which has led to a constant feeling of danger in his personal life. Todd said with concern: “Obviously, falsely claiming that ordinary people of ordinary wealth are extraordinarily wealthy exposes them to threats such as robbery and kidnapping. It’s not just a stupid question, it’s a dangerous one.”

Todd has stressed that being falsely identified as Satoshi Nakamoto is not only an invasion of his privacy, but also a real risk to his security.

The legend surrounding Nakamoto is not just that of a technological visionary, but also that of a potential shadow billionaire. Satoshi is estimated to own around one million bitcoins, which is a staggering sum in today's value, putting anyone linked to him at risk.

Since the documentary's release, Todd has maintained a firm stance that he is not Satoshi and has harshly criticized those seeking to reveal his identity. According to him, Nakamoto made a conscious decision to remain anonymous “for good reasons,” and he considers trying to reveal his identity to be not only a futile but “dangerous” activity. In his words, “no one should help people trying to find Satoshi.”

For his part, Cullen Hoback has downplayed the concerns expressed by Todd. In statements reported by Wired, Hoback argues that Todd and others have exaggerated the possible threats and that, so far, there has been no real danger to the individuals investigated.

“There is potentially this anonymous figure who controls one-twentieth of the total supply of digital gold,” the filmmaker said, justifying his decision to seek out Nakamoto’s identity. For him, discovering who the creator of Bitcoin really is is a fact of “enormous importance.”

Despite Hoback’s insistence that the case against Todd is strong, within the cryptocurrency community the revelation has not been fully accepted. Many Bitcoin experts and developers have expressed their doubts, questioning whether Todd is really the creator behind the pseudonymous Nakamoto.

What is clear is that, since the publication of the documentary, Peter Todd's life has never been the same, now surrounded by uncertainty, risks and a level of attention that he himself describes as "unbearable."

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