Another ‘Pseudo-Satoshi’: Stephen Mollah Claims to Be Bitcoin’s Creator

On October 31, at the Front Line Club in London, a man named Stephen Mollah declared himself to be Satoshi Nakamoto.

A man called Stephen Mollah has taken to the stage. He claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto — the mystery inventor of Bitcoin. He’s claimed this before and is currently in legal dispute about it. He will now provide evidence, he says. pic.twitter.com/XkapPT7y3c

— Joe Tidy (@joetidy) October 31, 2024

“I am at an event in London advertised as ‘the unveiling of the true legal identity of Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto’,” wrote BBC News reporter Joe Tidy, who broadcast the event on X.

According to the journalist, he paid the organizer £500 for the opportunity to attend and ask questions. Journalists from other major publications and representatives of crypto platforms were also present.

We are wasting our time at this ridiculous event also pic.twitter.com/nDJk7izEBV

— BitMEX Research (@BitMEXResearch) October 31, 2024

“We are also wasting our time at this ridiculous event,” shared BitMEX Research.

According to the Financial Times, the new self-proclaimed Satoshi is “about 58 years old.” He claims to have invented the Twitter logo, eurobonds, and Bitcoin — the idea for the latter came to him about 20 years ago during a walk in the Himalayas:

“Satoshi is a pseudonym I started using on April 5, 2007. I am the inventor of Bitcoin and blockchain technology. I wrote the white paper.”

A Prolonged Performance

Mollah’s presentation, alongside event organizer Charles Anderson, began with a microphone check and the phrase: “Testicles, one, two, three.”

After 40 minutes of Anderson’s monologue, detailing how he invented an “energy recovery system” for cars and the show “Britain’s Got Talent,” the self-proclaimed Satoshi took the stage.

Mollah claimed to be a “business personality engaged in business,” an economist, and, of course, the creator of the first cryptocurrency.

When it came to evidence, the “pseudo-Satoshi” failed to provide any, as there was no power cord for the laptop, and then the internet connection was lost, writes DL News.

Among the available proofs, he showed several screenshots from the BitcoinTalk forum, dated 2008 and 2009, which supposedly had a “timestamp.”

When asked about his holdings of the asset, Mollah replied that he does not have access to them “for technical reasons” — he lacks the digital key to unlock them, but he “could obtain it if he wished.”

According to him, the key is divided into eight parts, located on eight computers “around the world.” This story reminded journalists of the plot of Christopher Nolan’s 2020 film “Tenet.”

A Suspicious Past

Mollah has previously made headlines. On October 10, journalist The Standard Tristan Kirk reported that he and Anderson were charged by a certain Dalmit Dohia in a private cryptocurrency fraud case.

According to court documents, from November 2022 to October 2023, Mollah posed as Satoshi and claimed to own 165,000 BTC stored in Singapore, with the intent to deceive the victim.

Both defendants pleaded not guilty. They were released on bail, and a hearing is scheduled for November 2025.

Earlier in October, HBO released the film Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery, which named Canadian programmer Peter Todd as the true creator of Bitcoin.

Todd himself refuted the arguments presented in the film and later reported that he was forced to go into hiding due to security threats.