Peter Todd forced into hiding after HBO’s ‘Satoshi’ film

Canadian cryptographer and developer Peter Todd, who was recently “identified” as the mysterious creator of Bitcoin in an HBO documentary, has reportedly been forced into hiding.

On October 9, the HBO documentary film “Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery” was released. After much excitement before its premiere, the big reveal was that Peter Todd is the creator of Bitcoin (BTC) – Satoshi Nakamoto.

Todd denied allegations that he was the pseudonymous creator of BTC after the film ended up being Satoshi. He is currently in hiding due to Canadian security concerns, according to Wired.

‘I am not Satoshi’

In statements shared with the publication, Todd argues that he is not Satoshi and that the outcome of the film made him a target. The harassment included people asking for money; one person sent 25 emails requesting money to pay off his loan.

“Frankly, false claims that ordinary people with ordinary wealth are extraordinarily wealthy expose them to threats of robbery and kidnapping,” Todd said in the interview.

He added that Satoshi “didn’t want to be found out” and that it was useless to put people in the spotlight for something they weren’t.

Todd told WIRED that the documentary’s producer, Cullen Hoback, used the Satoshi connection for marketing purposes. However, Hoback claims that despite Todd’s denials and misdirections, there is a strong justification for the inferences made in the film.

Interest in uncovering the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto has surrounded the crypto world since the person or group of people thought to be behind the world’s largest digital asset disappeared from public view in 2010.

Todd is not the only face cited as the creator of Bitcoin.

Ahead of the HBO movie, the bets have largely shifted from cryptographers Len Sassaman and Nick Szabo to Blockstream founder Adam Back. Others who have been “identified” over the years include Hal Finney, one of the pioneers of the Bitcoin community who received the first BTC transaction.

A UK court ruled in March 2024 that Australian computer scientist Craig Wright is not Satoshi.