Pete Todd Claims Life at Risk After HBO Doc Links Him to Satoshi Nakamoto

Canadian developer Pete Todd has said fears for his life following the release of HBO's documentary Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery, which claimed he is Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto.

The highly anticipated film by Cullen Hoback, who successfully identified the person behind QAnon in a previous documentary, pointed towards Todd in its most climatic scene.

Even the lead-up to the documentary had the industry speculating. First, Cypherpunk community leader Len Sassaman,was believed to be HBO's big reveal.

Not only was he a contributor to the legendary Cypherpunk mailing list, where Bitcoin was first announced by Satoshi Nakamoto but his research with the Computer Security and Industrial Cryptography (COSIC) group earned him a strong reputation in the field of cryptography and privacy-enhancing technologies.

Just days later, US computer scientist, legal scholar, and cryptographer Nicholas (Nick) Szabo became the frontrunner in Polymarket's prediction market for the individual to be identified as Nakamoto.

Szabo is well-known for developing the concept of smart contracts and for designing a decentralized digital currency mechanism called "bit gold," which has been described as a direct precursor to Bitcoin's architecture. His insights into cryptography and decentralized systems have been highly influential in shaping the landscape of modern blockchain technology.

Hoback's main evidence of Todd being Satoshi stems from a forum thread dating back to December 2020 in which he appears to be "finishing Satoshi's sentences."

“Everybody had always thought that Satoshi must have used anonymity because they knew that their invention was going to be a hit,” Hoback says. “But perhaps it was because they wanted to be taken seriously—because they were young.”

“The end scene is really about his body language—his expressions. Were you ever caught in a lie? That’s what Peter’s reaction reads like to me,” he added.

Throughout the course of the documentary, Todd appears to confess being Satoshi before retracting his admission.  “By the way, everyone is Satoshi,”he is heard saying in the film.

In an interview with Wired, Todd said he was caught of guard and thought the documentary was about Bitcoin's history and not its creator. “I was trolling the shit out of him,” Todd said about Hoback.

Since then, Todd has denied the claims. “For the record, I am not Satoshi,” he said, accusing Hoback of making the claim "for marketing" purposes. Nonetheless, Hoback, said Todd's denials are part of a "grand and layered misdirection."

“[Todd] throws so much shit at the wall that nothing sticks,” said Hoback. “It's a pretty effective technique—it's hard to pin down someone who's a contrarian and constantly makes opposite statements.” 

Todd told Wired that he has faced harassment since the documentary aired. "So far, [it’s] a bunch of people asking for money," Todd said, adding that he was concerned for his safety and has gone into hiding after fearing the dangers of being falsely accused of being extraordinarily wealthy.

“If you assume a sophisticated enough Satoshi, practically any theory is possible,” said Todd. “It's a useless question, because Satoshi would simply deny it.”