The hotly-awaited HBO documentary purportedly revealing the real identity of Bitcoin BTC/USD creator Satoshi Nakamoto just aired, but does it truly unveil one of the most enduring mysteries of our time?
What happened: The documentary titled “Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery,” directed by investigative filmmaker Cullen Hoback, has sparked interest ever since its cinematic trailer was dropped last week.
The documentary covers Bitcoin's roots and introduces various figures from the early days of its development, including Blockstream CEO Adam Back.
Toward the end of the documentary, however, Hoback locks in on Bitcoin Core engineer Peter Todd, providing a series of hints that he may be the leading cryptocurrency’s secret inventor, according to Decrypt.
Todd quickly took to X to deny the claim. “I’ve done a lot of things in life that have put me in the spotlight. Not my first rodeo. But this might be crazier than before,” he said in another post.
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Why It Matters: Satoshi Nakamoto is the alias for whoever wrote the Bitcoin whitepaper and is credited with developing Bitcoin. Several persons have claimed or were believed to be Satoshi, but their genuine identity has never been confirmed or revealed.
Speculation over Nakamoto’s identity has long been a subject of intense speculation, with names of several technologists and computer scientists over the years, including Australian computer scientist Craig Wright, late American software developer Hal Finney, and Litecoin LTC/USD creator Charlie Lee, and Adam Back..
Preceding the reveal, betting odds saw wild fluctuation on who HBO would identify as Nakamoto. While late cypherpunk and privacy advocate Len Sassaman was punters’ favorite earlier, the odds quickly shifted in favor of Nick Szabo—another noted scientist from Bitcoin’s early evolution days.
With Satoshi holding more than a million Bitcoins (out of the 21 million total supply maximum), interested parties find a rational factor in seeking out their identity, as any movement of their holdings could drastically affect the coin’s price.
Price Action: At the time of writing, Bitcoin was exchanging hands at $62,269.11, down 2.03% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
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