What is Bitcoin? It’s a question many have been asking since the crytocurrency became a part of the lexicon some 15 years ago. But for those already in the know, a more pressing question has been this one: Who is the person responsible for springing it on global economics?
The new HBO documentary Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery, directed by Cullen Hoback (Q: Into the Storm) claims to have figured out the identity of the elusive figure who up to now has been known by the pseudonym “Satoshi Nakamoto.”
Courtesy of HBO
The documentary, which premiered on Oct. 8, explains, for beginners, what the cryptocurrency is and goes through its long, controversial history. “Who cares about Bitcoin?” Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, rhetorically asks in an old clip at the beginning of the doc as the 2010 value of one bitcoin flashes on the screen.
Spoiler alert: It’s 23 cents.
A group of people, including Donald Trump, are heard and seen characterizing Bitcoin as a “scam” as we see its value increasing onscreen over the years that follow. A decade and a half after its launch, the documentary claims, “Bitcoin has become the 10th most valuable asset in the world.”
But still, the trillion-dollar question persists: Who created it?
Courtesy of HBO
Satoshi Nakamoto, who might be worth more than $1 trillion, is said to be the genius behind the decentralized, libertarian dream currency — but no-one by that name actually exists. And, as the documentary goes on to explain, Nakamoto disappeared years ago, leading to “the greatest mystery of the internet age” — the Gen Z version of “Who killed Jimmy Hoffa?” and “What happened to D.B. Cooper”?
Nakamoto created Bitcoin in 2008, and then they seemed to vanish around the end of 2010 or the beginning of 2011, before the cryptocurrency really took off.
Cullen travels around the world and speaks to various experts and insiders, including Blockstream CEO Adam Back, early Bitcoin developer Peter Todd and “Bitcoin Jesus” Roger Ver, to get to the bottom of why Satoshi vanished and, more importantly, who they are. Are they still alive? Did they ever even exist?
Courtesy of HBO
Australian businessman Craig Wright claimed to be Nakamoto at one point, which effectively ruled him out and eventually landed him in the crosshairs of the U.K. High Court.
The documentary throws out several other names — Blockstream cofounder Gregory Maxwell, computer scientist Nick Szabo, researcher and investor Wei Dei and the late Bitcoin pioneer Hal Finney — before landing on one man: Peter Todd.
Courtesy of HBO
Todd, a young Canadian who was still a college student in the early days of Bitcoin, says he didn’t get involved in Bitcoin until 2014. But Cullen uncovers evidence that Todd had posted on the Bitcoin forum as far back as 2010, finishing one of Nakamoto’s thoughts before disappearing from the platform two days before Nakamoto vanished from the forum.
Todd starts chuckling when Cullen presents him with his suspicion. “I will admit, you’re pretty creative,” he says. “You come up with some crazy theories. It’s ludicrous, but it’s the kind of theory that someone who spends his time as a documentary journalist would come up with.”
He goes on to call Cullen’s theory “just another example of journalists really missing the point in a way that’s very funny.”
“What is the point?” Cullen asks.
“The point is to make Bitcoin the global currency,” Todd replies, still chuckling, “and people like you being distracted by nonsense.”
That may be amusing to Todd, but it’s not exactly a denial.
Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery is now streaming on Max.
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