Peter Todd Denies Being Satoshi Before HBO Doc Release

Hours before the premiere of HBO's Satoshi Nakamoto documentary on Tuesday night, leaked clips began circulating, suggesting that Peter Todd, a former Bitcoin developer, might be the mysterious creator of the cryptocurrency. However, Todd has openly rejected this idea.

According to CoinDesk, Todd responded to the claim, accusing filmmaker Cullen Hoback—who previously uncovered the identity behind the QAnon conspiracy in an earlier HBO series—of "grasping at straws" in his attempt to link Todd to Satoshi Nakamoto.

Todd confirmed that the interview shown in the documentary was real, stating, "Yes, that specific scene isn't a deepfake," although he mentioned he hadn’t yet watched the documentary. He also added, "Of course, I'm not Satoshi."

Todd found it ironic that a director known for investigating QAnon was now using similar "coincidence-based" logic to fuel speculation about his involvement.

In clips shared on social media, Todd referred to the notion that he could be Satoshi as "absurd."

On Tuesday afternoon, just hours before the debut of "Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery" in New York, betting odds on Polymarket overwhelmingly favored "Other/Multiple" as the film’s reveal for Satoshi's identity. Since Todd wasn’t directly listed as a choice, anyone placing a bet on him had to select the "Other/Multiple" option.

Is Peter Todd Really Satoshi? The Documentary’s Case Examined

The 100-minute documentary explored the origins of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency projects but failed to provide concrete evidence linking Peter Todd to Satoshi Nakamoto.

Some circumstantial clues were highlighted, such as Todd’s early interest in cryptography, his connection to Adam Back (who communicated with Satoshi via email), his technical expertise, and the fact that both Satoshi and Todd used British/Canadian spellings, with Todd being Canadian. 

The most notable piece of evidence presented was a 2010 public forum post in which Todd replied to one of Satoshi's posts. The filmmaker, Cullen Hoback, suggested that Todd’s response was actually a continuation of Satoshi's post, mistakenly sent from Todd's account instead of Satoshi’s.

However, the documentary did not reach a definitive conclusion that Todd was Satoshi. Even the much-anticipated confrontation between Hoback and Todd, featured in a leaked clip, remained speculative.

Hoback also referenced a blog post where Todd claimed to be "probably the world's leading expert" on how to destroy Bitcoin, though even Hoback admitted this was far from solid evidence.

"It felt like an admission, as if Peter wanted those close to him to believe he had indeed destroyed the bitcoins," Hoback said. "But this wasn’t proof."

The Bitcoin mined by Satoshi has never been moved, fueling ongoing speculation that Satoshi either passed away or deliberately ensured they would never access the coins.