- Seven weeks after airing his HBO documentary director Cullen Hoback stands his ground.
- Peter Todd countered that Hoback was just trying to hype his film.
- The ongoing debate demonstrates the staying power of finance's greatest mystery.
When an HBO documentary identified developer Peter Todd as Satoshi Nakamoto in October, the blowback from the Bitcoin community was instant.
“Foolishness,” said one crypto expert.
“Dangerous,” said another.
Todd himself laughed off the idea he was the creator of Bitcoin, and as such, the custodian of $94 billion worth of the cryptocurrency.
“For the record, I am as Satoshi as you are,” Todd said at a recent event in New York.
But now, some seven weeks after “Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery” aired, director Cullen Hoback told DL News he’s just as convinced he got his man — Peter Todd is Satoshi Nakamoto.
‘The evidence simply led me to Todd.’
— Cullen Hoback
Moreover, he said Todd has issued denials to preserve Satoshi’s anonymity.
“The evidence simply led me to Todd,” Hoback said in an interview. “Todd has done an excellent job at muddying the waters in preparation for this moment.”
Nonsense, said Todd.
“His evidence is incredibly flimsy – conspiracy-thinking-level flimsy,” Todd, 39, told DL News.
It’s an ironic turn of events, Todd said, considering Hoback’s previous project was a multi-part documentary on the QAnon conspiracy, a baseless ultra-right wing theory that Donald Trump is confronting a secret cabal of enemies.
Ongoing clash
Hoback and Todd are clashing over the film’s climactic “reveal” even as the crypto world has moved on to other seismic events, such as the epic rally that’s driven Bitcoin to an all-time high topping $94,000.
The quest for Satoshi’s identity has been a perennial storyline in crypto for almost 15 years.
Given how Satoshi’s nine-page white paper in 2008 fomented an asset class now worth $3.3 trillion, Hoback will likely be followed by other sleuths determined to solve the greatest mystery in finance.
“It’s important to know who that person is, what their intentions are,” Hoback said.
This is why he made his documentary.
‘I’m not a rich man, I can’t afford real security.’
— Peter Todd
Hoback wonders whether Satoshi is just biding his time until Bitcoin becomes the world reserve currency.
Yet Todd, a 39-year-old Canadian software developer, countered that Hoback not only erred by naming him as Satoshi, the filmmaker also compromised his security.
The crypto world is rife these days with kidnappings and robberies of crypto holders.
Satoshi, of course, would be the biggest target of them all. Identifying him as Satoshi is really reckless, said Todd.
“I’m not a rich man, I can’t afford to hire real security,” Todd said. Nevertheless, he has beefed up his safety measures.
Todd also told DL News it is obvious Satoshi wants to remain anonymous.
“So at a minimum it’s unethical to try and find them,” Todd said.
Todd further argued that Hoback resorted to naming him as Satoshi as a way to hype his film.
‘Very frustrated’
The director, Todd suggested at a Bitcoin event in New York on November 11, was “very frustrated” he couldn’t find a way to get the narrative of Bitcoin for a wider audience.
“Cullen went to HBO, told them we’re going to create a documentary on the rise of Bitcoin, but as he kept on getting more footage, he realised we were nerdier and less watchable than the QAnon people,” Todd said at the Bitcoin-themed bar PubKey in New York.
But the filmmaker refutes that suggestion and said Todd always knew unmasking Satoshi was on the cards.
“Todd messaged me after our first interview to ‘leave Satoshi alone,’” Hoback told DL News.
He added that Todd’s lack of knowledge is “either intellectually dishonest or he just doesn’t remember that well.”
Who knew what, when, was a theme at the PubKey event.
Pete Rizzo said that Samson Mow, the CEO of JAN3, a Bitcoin technology company, and a main character in the film, knew from the beginning the HBO team was intent on finding Satoshi.
Todd denied this was true.
1.1 million Bitcoin
To hear Todd tell it, Satoshi should remain cloaked in mystery for the good of the crypto community. The idea has been gaining ground.
In one sense it’s practical.
If Satoshi did emerge and tap the original Bitcoin in the fabled Genesis Block, the system’s digital cornerstone, the event would roil the crypto market. Satoshi is believed to control as many as 1.1 million Bitcoin.
There is also an impetus to preserve Satoshi’s mystique.
As long as Bitcoin’s creator remains secret, the blockchain also stands on its own merits without the distraction of a personality or personalities crowding the narrative.
It’s little wonder there was such outcry after Hoback’s documentary aired on October 8.
Rizzo called it “an insult to Bitcoin – cynical, stupid, and dangerous.”
‘I just don’t think Todd is who people want Satoshi to be.’
— Cullen Hoback
Muneeb Ali, the founder of Bitcoin Layer 2 Stacks said, “Peter Todd is not Satoshi. Anyone who has seriously worked in the Bitcoin industry knows this.”
Jameson Lopp, Bitcoin OG and chief technical officer at custodian company Casa, also chimed in. “Wherever Satoshi may be, I like to think they’re having a laugh at this latest round of foolishness,” he said.
Hoback shrugged off these comments, and stood his ground.
“I just don’t think Todd is who people want Satoshi to be,” he said. “Obviously there’s far more evidence than I could include in the film.”
Pedro Solimano is a Markets correspondent for DL News based in Buenos Aires. Contact the author at psolimano@dlnews.com.
