A much-anticipated documentary on Satoshi Nakamoto by the American television company HBO was aired on Tuesday. It turned out that it was not the cryptographer Len Sassaman that everyone had guessed in advance; it was a Canadian software developer Peter Todd. HBO theorized that Todd was Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous cryptocurrency pioneer who mysteriously disappeared in 2011. However, the evidence in the documentary is still not enough to convince those who have long studied the mystery of Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity.
(Satoshi Nakamoto has committed suicide? HBO will expose the creator of Bitcoin, who is the most popular candidate Len Sassaman)
The director confidently pointed out: Peter Todd is Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto
Director Cullen Hoback made a major allegation in his documentary (Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery): Canadian software developer Peter Todd is the creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto. Although Todd flatly denied this, Hoback still stood by his reasoning and said he was "very confident" in it. The accusation sparked a new round of heated discussion about Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity.
Todd’s early interest in digital currency and Satoshi Nakamoto’s language characteristics
Peter Todd has been interested in creating digital currencies since he was a child. In 2001, as a young libertarian, he emailed digital currency pioneer Adam Back to ask how Hashcash's structure could be applied to a "decentralized 'central' database." Todd was still a teenager at the time, but his enthusiasm and curiosity about digital currency coincided with the philosophy of Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto.
In addition, Hoback also pointed out that Satoshi Nakamoto’s language use in the Bitcoin white paper and forums showed the spelling characteristics of British and Canadian English, such as the use of words such as “favour” and “neighbour”, which is consistent with Canadian consistent with people’s language habits. At the same time, Satoshi Nakamoto also uses American spelling, such as "realize". These details add to the similarity between Todd and Satoshi Nakamoto.
Code for "physicist turned software engineer"
Hoback further highlighted the characteristics of Bitcoin’s code. Todd was a graduate student in physics when Bitcoin was created, and he was a self-taught programmer. After Hoback hired experts to analyze the Bitcoin code, he received this evaluation: "This code lacks a sense of refinement, like a work written by a physicist who became a software engineer." This is consistent with Todd's background. The coincidence made Hoback firmer in his speculation.
“Flaws” on the Bitcoin Forum in 2010
During his investigation, Hoback found what he considered "definitive evidence": a post published on a Bitcoin forum in 2010, just two days after Satoshi Nakamoto's last appearance on the forum. In the post, Satoshi Nakamoto made a technical proposal regarding the Bitcoin code. Just a few hours later, Todd also posted a response on the same forum, making slight revisions to Satoshi Nakamoto’s proposal.
Todd wrote in response: "Of course, specifically, if the second transaction has a handling fee, the input and output cannot exactly 'match'." This response led Hoback to make a bold hypothesis: Todd actually He used the wrong account and accidentally responded to his previous post as Satoshi Nakamoto in his personal capacity.
Actual replacement fee mechanism
Years later, Todd put the discussed proposals into practice and implemented a mechanism called "Replace-by-Fee" (RBF), a technical improvement that became part of Bitcoin transactions. Hoback believes this fact further supports his theory that the technical details Todd was responding to were those he himself came up with.
How did Todd react?
In the documentary, Hoback faces the camera and addresses the forum post and the reasoning behind it directly to Peter Todd and Adam Back. When Hoback told Todd that he believed Todd was Satoshi Nakamoto, Todd denied it on the spot and called the speculation "ridiculous." Hoback noticed, however, that Todd seemed nervous when answering and smiled awkwardly to himself in front of the camera. "His reaction was indicative," Hoback said, "and Adam Back's silence during this conversation was almost as revealing as the evidence gathered before it."
However, Hoback acknowledged that there are still some unanswered questions, including why Todd didn't delete the potentially revealing forum response.
HBO documentary accuses Peter Todd of being Satoshi Nakamoto, but he denies it
This documentary titled (Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery), directed by director Cullen Hoback, attempts to reveal the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto. But Peter Todd, the subject of the documentary, strongly denied this and called it "ridiculous."
(HBO launches Bitcoin documentary Money Electric, the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto will be revealed soon)
Although Todd insists on denying any connection to Satoshi Nakamoto, Hoback's documentary reignited speculation in the cryptocurrency world about Satoshi Nakamoto's true identity. As more evidence is unearthed, the debate over Bitcoin’s creator remains far from over.
Bets are off before the documentary airs
Before the documentary was released, punters in the crypto market placed $20 million in bets on the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto on the Polymarket platform. Most punters think the documentary will point to multiple creators or to someone who is not among the 15 candidates. The late American cryptographer Len Sassaman was once the most popular candidate, but after the documentary was released, everything became unclear again.
This article HBO reveals Satoshi Nakamoto! Canadian developer is accused of being the creator of Bitcoin, Peter Todd: I am not Satoshi Nakamoto appeared first on Chain News ABMedia.
