- Peter Todd was indeed one of the early Bitcoin developers, but it is unlikely he could be the creator of the cryptocurrency.
- The community criticized the arguments presented in the HBO documentary.
The creators of the HBO documentary Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery named Peter Todd as the creator of Bitcoin.
He refuted this claim. The community also expressed doubts about the filmmakers’ conclusions. However, the 39-year-old developer made a significant contribution to the development of the cryptocurrency.
An Unexpected Candidate
During the publication of the digital gold white paper in October 2008, 23-year-old Todd was completing his studies in fine arts. At that time, he had no connection to cryptography, claims Web3 researcher known as Pix.
This is Peter Todd
HBO just revealed him as Satoshi Nakamoto
Here’s what HBO got wrong, and why it matters for your Bitcoins:
1/10 pic.twitter.com/wyz6QX4nho
— Pix? (@PixOnChain) October 9, 2024
In a 2019 podcast, Todd revealed that from the age of 15, he communicated with one of the early Bitcoin participants, Hal Finney, and Hashcash inventor Adam Back.
It is known that the programmer was among the few people discussing the technical aspects of the first cryptocurrency on the BitcoinTalk forum with Satoshi Nakamoto before his disappearance in 2011.
One of Todd’s messages became an argument for the filmmakers’ assertion. The post concerned the regulation of transaction costs to prioritize them. Allegedly, the programmer sent it by mistake from his account, writing on behalf of Satoshi. The proposal was implemented as BIP-125 in 2015.
Since July 2014, Todd has been a Bitcoin Core developer on the Coinkite platform. He later held various positions in projects such as the Bitcoin-based communication protocol Mastercoin and the open-source wallet Dark Wallet.
In 2016, Todd participated in the launch of the privacy coin ZCash. During the “trusted setup” ceremony, the generated cryptographic key was divided among six people to protect wallets and the protocol.
Later, the programmer described his participation in the process as “pointless,” as he believed it was not “multi-party computation.”
Todd did not avoid scandals in his life — in 2019, cryptographer Isis Lovecruft accused him of sexual assault. The developer filed a counterclaim for defamation. As a result, the parties settled the claims without any financial compensation.
Mystery Remains?
Since 2011, the community has been trying to solve one of Bitcoin’s greatest mysteries — who is the creator of the cryptocurrency. Most often, Hal Finney, Adam Back, Nick Szabo, and even Craig Wright are mentioned in this context. However, Todd’s name was never mentioned.
Director of Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery, Cullen Hoback, stated during the film’s announcement that the person he named “will spark a lot of debate.”
On the decentralized prediction platform Polymarket, before the film’s release, there was an opportunity to bet on whom HBO would identify as the inventor of Bitcoin. Initially, cypherpunk Len Sassaman led, then Szabo took the top position.
Todd humorously commented on Hoback’s arguments.
“I admit, you are quite creative. You come up with some crazy theories. It’s funny. But I’ll say, yes, of course, I’m Satoshi. And I’m Craig Wright,” he told the director in the film.
The filmmakers’ arguments were questioned by Pix and BitMEX analysts, who pointed out their misconceptions “in causal relationships.”
Wouldn’t have been related to me. Look at my posting history: I didn’t get involved significantly until way later. I was too busy with school and work.
— Peter Todd (@peterktodd) October 8, 2024
“Couldn’t have been related to me. Look at my posting history: I didn’t get involved significantly until way later. I was too busy with school and work,” Todd confirmed the experts’ conclusions.
As reported, a court ruled that Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto. The entrepreneur is required to post a corresponding notice on all his public resources.