Canadian cryptographer and computer scientist Peter Todd says he’s been forced into hiding for fear of his safety after an HBO documentary supposedly outed him as the inventor of Bitcoin (BTC).
The film, dubbed “Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery,” aired on Oct. 9 and was purported to finally reveal the mystery surrounding the true identity of “Satoshi Nakamoto,” the pseudonym of a person thought to be the inventor of Bitcoin.
Ultimately, after exploring other potential candidates, the documentary ended on a dubious note with Todd stating “Well yeah, I’m Satoshi Nakamoto.”
Spartacus and Satoshi Nakamoto
Todd has repeatedly denied that he is Satoshi Nakamoto and dismissed the film’s claims. According to a recent interview with Wired, he’s been forced into hiding over fears for his safety. He says filmmaker Cullen Hoback, the documentary’s director, used specious evidence to support the documentary’s erroneous conclusion.
Peter Todd denied being Satoshi Nakamoto on X.com. Source: Peter Todd
However, according to several sources and footage shown in the documentary itself, Todd evidently has a history of jokingly stating “I am Satoshi.” These statements appear to have been made in the vein of the famous line “I am Spartacus” from the eponymous film.
In the 1960 action film “Spartacus,” a group of warriors are captured by Roman soldiers and offered mercy if they’ll identify and send forth the man known as Spartacus. In response, the warriors each claim, in turn, to be Spartacus as a sign of solidarity.
The dangers of being Satoshi
According to Wired, Todd agreed to appear in the HBO documentary because he believed it was about the history of Bitcoin — as opposed to an attempted exposé. Todd says that not only has he been incorrectly identified as Nakamoto, but that his life is now in constant danger:
“Obviously, falsely claiming that ordinary people of ordinary wealth are extraordinarily rich exposes them to threats like robbery and kidnapping. Not only is the question dumb, it's dangerous. Satoshi obviously didn't want to be found, for good reasons, and no one should help people trying to find Satoshi.”
Related: Adam Back: Bitcoin’s value lies in its founder’s anonymity
However, Electric Money’s director seemingly takes a different view. Wired reports that Hoback claims Todd and others have blown things out of proportion and that the idea of outing Nakamoto has, so far, posed no real threat to those investigated.
“There’s potentially this anonymous figure out there who controls one-twentieth of the total supply of digital gold,” said Hoback. Adding that identifying this person “is pretty important.”
While both men appear to be sticking to their stories, the so-called reveal doesn’t appear to have convinced many within the cryptocurrency community that Todd is, in fact, Satoshi Nakamoto.
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