“If it is an individual and not a collective, he could be one of the richest people on the planet. » Who? The inventor of bitcoin, until now hidden behind the assumed name Satoshi Nakamoto, and whose identity a documentary from the American channel HBO could soon reveal.
“Anyone competent enough to go and invent bitcoin would probably be competent enough not to leave any trace” of their identity, adds the trailer for a documentary titled Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mysteryand which will premiere on Tuesday, October 8 at 9 p.m.
The documentary is the work of director Cullen Hoback, who waded into the QAnon movement for his previous documentary, called Q: Into the Stormwhich was broadcast by HBO in 2021. The timing of its broadcast is not insignificant: Republican candidate Donald Trump is a fervent supporter of bitcoin, as is billionaire Elon Musk, whom Trump would like to have as an advisor if he is elected president of the United States next month.
The reaction was quick elsewhere on the internet, with several cryptocurrency enthusiasts asserting with great confidence that HBO actually had no idea who the inventor of bitcoin was. “We are all Satoshi. Start the credits,” the people behind the digital currency platform Coinbase published on X.
Satoshi Nakamoto
There is a lot of mystery surrounding Satoshi Nakamoto, the name of the author of the white paper published in 2008 and entitled Bitcoin: a Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash Systemwhich laid the foundations for a decentralized cryptocurrency called bitcoin. Nakamoto was actively involved in establishing the platform behind bitcoin, but he suddenly disappeared in 2011.
Over the years, several people have been suggested as the true identity of the creator of bitcoin. Mostly American computer scientists, until Australian scientist Craig Wright himself claimed to be the inventor of the most popular cryptocurrency. This claim has been questioned by several critics. A Japanese-American man named Dorian Nakamoto was also believed – wrongly – to be the inventor of bitcoin.
Another rumor adding to the intrigue is that Satoshi Nakamoto is said to hold around a million bitcoins. The value of the digital currency is currently C$84,000, which is equivalent to a fortune of C$84 billion.
Speculation about what the HBO documentary will reveal is rife on prediction site Polymarket as well. 44% of respondents to the question “who will be the person identified by HBO?” » named the American computer scientist Len Sassaman.
Len Sassaman was heavily involved in the development of cryptography tools and other computer protocols until his death in 2011. He is already considered by many to be the inventor of bitcoin.