HBO's newest documentary, Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery, made a startling revelation: it claimed that Peter Todd was, allegedly, Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin.
That catapulted the 39-year-old Canadian cryptocurrency developer into the spotlight as one of several people who are believed to be the maker of the world's first and largest cryptocurrency.
Mr Todd has denied this, simply writing on X that “I'm not Satoshi”, while also taking potshots at documentary director Cullen Hoback, both on social media platform X and in the media.
Mr Todd also told CNN – which shares a parent company with HBO, Warner Bros Discovery – that the “irresponsible” documentary has put his life in danger, accusing of Hoback of “playing up a few coincidences into something much more. Ironic really: that’s a hallmark of conspiracy thinking.”
The true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto has been a topic of speculation for quite some time, with no definitive evidence to confirm it. It is also plausible that the pseudonym may represent a group.
Here are the three individuals most frequently believed to be the inventor of Bitcoin before Mr Todd's involvement in the discussion.
Dorian Nakamoto
Arguably, the most high-profile episode of in the search for Satoshi Nakamoto was the case of Dorian Nakamoto. The Japanese-American worked for major corporations and the US military and, perhaps significantly, has the birth name “Satoshi Nakamoto”.
Mr Nakamoto was thrust into the spotlight in 2014, following a Newsweek report that claimed he was the Bitcoin maker. He was 64 years old at the time, a retired physicist and engineer.
The Newsweek reporter who wrote the exposé, Leah Goodman, drove to Mr Nakamoto's home in Los Angeles, escorted by police officers. She ambush-interviewed him while he was leaving his home, responding that “I am no longer involved in that and I cannot discuss it”.
Eventually, he denied being Bitcoin's creator, saying he misunderstood Goodman's questions. Even the Bitcoin community was unconvinced by the report, while also condemning the invasion of Mr Nakamoto's privacy. Supporters even raised money to help cover the cost of his troubles.
Craig Wright
Dorian Nakamoto and other individuals suspected of being Satoshi Nakamoto have opted to maintain their silence. However, this is not the case with Craig Wright, the Australian scientist who has emerged as one of the loudest contenders for the title of Bitcoin creator.
This time, it was Wired that published an article in late 2015, claiming to have “obtained the strongest evidence yet of Satoshi Nakamoto's true identity”. Mr Wright was more than happy to engage, saying he was involved with Bitcoin “for a long time”, but just chose to maintain a low profile.
Wired's basis for the story was leaked emails and transcripts, the latter of which included Mr Wright telling tax officials he had “been running Bitcoin since 2019", and a “cryptocurrency paper” on Mr Wright's blog, published some months before the Bitcoin white paper surfaced.
However, the crypto community was sceptical about his claims, prompting Wired to publish a follow-up piece highlighting inconsistencies in Mr Wright's story. Despite this, he capitalised on his newfound fame to establish himself as a leading figure in the industry.
His adventure reached its apogee in March 2024, when a UK judge ruled that he was not Satoshi Nakamoto, consigning him to the ranks of so-called Faketoshis.
In July, Mr Wright was referred to UK prosecutors for investigation that could lead to charges of perjury and forgery.
Nick Szabo
When one pioneers a concept that serves as a precursor to Bitcoin, scrutiny as the creator may follow. This was the case for Nick Szabo, an American computer scientist and cryptographer.
He proposed the decentralised currency Bit Gold in 1998, a decade before Bitcoin came into existence, after introducing the term “smart contracts” in 1994, which would become the basis of today's blockchain sector.
Unlike Dorian Nakamoto and Mr Wright, the possibility of Mr Szabo being Satoshi Nakamoto was published in a book, Bitcoin: The Future of Money? written by Dominic Frisby, a British comedian. The reception to this notion, however, met with mixed reviews.
Fuelling further speculation was a study conducted by Aston University in Birmingham, which noted similarities between Szabo's writing style and that of the Bitcoin white paper.
Despite these findings, Mr Szabo has kept a low profile compared to other candidates for the Satoshi Nakamoto persona. His reserved nature has been likely to have contributed to the subdued discussion surrounding his potential role as the founder of Bitcoin.
