HBO made a $68 billion joke

Author: Jaleel加六, BlockBeats

1 hour ago, the top American streaming service HBO finally released a documentary about the founder of Bitcoin. In the teaser that piqued the interest of all cryptocurrency traders, HBO claimed that this film would reveal who Satoshi Nakamoto is.

In the past, speculations about Satoshi Nakamoto were just talked about online, but this time it’s different; people are starting to place bets.

As the documentary's director Hoback said, the betting on "who is Satoshi Nakamoto" has made this topic even hotter, with the betting pool on Polymarket accumulating to $20 million. Hoback sits in front of his computer, constantly refreshing the betting pool, watching the bets increase. Although he assures that he will not participate in the betting, this documentary has undoubtedly boosted his fame in the film industry.

It is rumored that to prevent information from leaking early, Hoback did a lot of confidentiality work during the production of the documentary. All interviews were conducted at different locations, and interviewees could only preview the parts relevant to them. Additionally, the film's editing was spread across multiple editing companies, with no single company having complete information about the film.

Who is Bitcoin's founder Satoshi Nakamoto? This has been a mystery since Bitcoin's inception over a decade ago. More than a decade later, HBO has given its answer, claiming that Satoshi Nakamoto's true identity is Peter Todd.

Regardless of whether you know this name, the odds reveal how abstract this answer is, even the betting options on Polymarket include names like Musk, but not Peter Todd.

In simple terms, HBO is playing a big joke, creating a major meme.

Who is Peter Todd

We still need to look at why HBO believes this guy is Satoshi Nakamoto.

In HBO's documentary, director Hoback identifies Peter Todd as Satoshi Nakamoto, a candidate who has never been "suspected" before. Peter Todd, image source HBO

Peter Todd is an early Bitcoin Core developer and cryptographic consultant, residing in Canada, who first submitted code to Bitcoin Core in April 2012. He has been involved since the early development stages of Bitcoin, making significant contributions especially in the areas of security and privacy. Todd is well-known for promoting several key Bitcoin Improvement Proposals and advocating for the robustness and security of the Bitcoin network.

Peter's career began in 2008 when he started working as an electronic designer at Gedex Inc. After obtaining a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Integrated Media from OCAD University in 2011, he has been dedicated to the development of the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry. Not just Bitcoin, over the years he has participated in multiple projects in the cryptocurrency industry, including Mastercoin, Dark Wallet, and serving as Chief Scientist at Coinkite. In development, Todd is a security-focused developer who often emphasizes potential vulnerabilities and is committed to researching solutions to reduce risks.

In the community, Todd is also an active member, frequently sharing his insights on Twitter and has a large following. His tweets cover a range of topics, including new cryptocurrency developments, industry news, and events. Todd often appears at many Bitcoin conferences and events, and many who have heard him speak consider Todd to be an excellent speaker and host.

However, the answer provided by director Hoback clearly seems to have fooled everyone. In his "rigorous" deduction process, the most critical evidence and conclusion he could present was that in a conversation, Satoshi Nakamoto mistakenly used Peter Todd's account to respond to others.

But in fact, this does not prove he is Satoshi Nakamoto. As netizens in the community and Peter Todd himself have clarified, Todd was merely correcting or clarifying Satoshi Nakamoto's post at that time, not mistakenly using the wrong account. Such "deduction" is clearly lacking in evidence.

Some professionals have also pointed out that HBO got Peter Todd's timeline wrong throughout the documentary, mistakenly believing he is Satoshi Nakamoto. In fact, in 2008, Peter Todd was not even 16 years old, which is a significant age discrepancy, and his life experiences differ greatly from what is known about Satoshi Nakamoto. Moreover, Todd has served as an advisor on multiple projects for a long time; if he were indeed Satoshi Nakamoto, his Bitcoin wallet could not have remained completely untouched for so many years.

Peter Todd himself is also extremely dissatisfied, publicly denying that he is Satoshi Nakamoto. He has repeatedly stated on social media that Hoback's theory is very absurd.

Peter Todd even sarcastically tweeted: "A director known for making a QAnon documentary is here adopting QAnon-style conspiracy thinking."

Currently, the majority of community members are criticizing HBO and Hoback because Hoback's attitude seems very casual, showing a lack of respect for Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, and cryptocurrency. "Peter Todd is Hoback's lifeline. Because he has no idea who Satoshi Nakamoto is, he just randomly pointed out a name."

More thoughtful community members have expressed concerns that Peter Todd might face some safety issues due to Hoback's "casualness," as Hoback has considerable influence in the film industry, and the general public lacks the ability to discern the truth. "They might go after Peter Todd because everyone knows that is worth $68 billion."

Not knowing who Satoshi Nakamoto is a good thing

Let's briefly return to September 2008, shortly after Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy. To cope with the crisis, the U.S. Treasury launched an unprecedented large-scale bailout, while the Federal Reserve flooded the market, attempting to stimulate the U.S. economy through excessive currency issuance. Not only the U.S., but the entire world suffered as well. The value of dollars held by various countries plummeted, leading to a series of butterfly effects such as increased exchange rate volatility and stock market crashes; in an instant, the global economy was mired in recession.

Three months after Lehman's bankruptcy, a paper signed by Satoshi Nakamoto was published online, titled "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System," which detailed how to create a "trustless electronic transaction system" using a peer-to-peer network. Bitcoin was born.

To this day, Bitcoin has experienced nearly 16 years, from an initial trading price of $0.0008 to now $62,000, with a total market value of $1.3 trillion. Bitcoin has gradually appreciated over 77.5 million times.

And that mysterious Bitcoin founder, Satoshi Nakamoto, is said to own about 1.1 million Bitcoins, which is $68 billion, the most unresolved asset in the cryptocurrency world. Discussions about who Satoshi Nakamoto is have never ceased over the past few years.

Personally, I think the most abstract part is whether everyone remembers the phrase "not your key, not your coin." When people opposed CSW claiming to be Satoshi Nakamoto, they directly asked him to transfer from Satoshi's wallet; as long as he could transfer, it would be 100% certain. But none of this matters in this documentary.

Like all top-notch mystery films, Satoshi Nakamoto, forever as an unknown answer, is the optimal solution. Perhaps it is him, perhaps it is her, or perhaps it is them, or maybe all of them. Perhaps we have guessed the answer, or perhaps we are still far from it. However, it is this mystery that gives Bitcoin a unique vitality.

Satoshi Nakamoto's anonymity is not just a mysterious allure; it symbolizes the decentralized spirit of Bitcoin. This decentralized concept does not rely on any single authority or individual but distributes power to every participant. It is precisely because Satoshi Nakamoto has never revealed himself that Bitcoin has maintained its purity, avoiding personality cults and human intervention. Satoshi Nakamoto's retreat has allowed Bitcoin to transcend individual will from the very beginning, becoming part of a global consensus.

Perhaps Satoshi Nakamoto's identity is not important; what truly matters is the ideology that Bitcoin represents and the changes it brings to the world. It offers a new financial model, breaking the monopoly of traditional banking systems and empowering individuals with more control and freedom.

No one knows who Satoshi Nakamoto is, and this may be the best outcome. The power of Bitcoin lies not in one person but in all people. Each of us is Satoshi Nakamoto, part of this decentralized revolution and historic experiment. Perhaps we never need to know who Satoshi Nakamoto is. Bitcoin has grown from an idea to a global phenomenon today precisely because it represents far more than just a name or an individual. It symbolizes the desire of countless people for financial freedom and privacy, and the power of technology to change the world.

We are all Satoshi.