The crypto neighborhood is reacting strongly to claims that an upcoming HBO documentary has unmasked Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s notorious and elusive creator.
HBO launched a trailer for the documentary on Oct. 3, which reveals snippets of interviews and analysis with among the earliest adopters of Bitcoin, together with Blockstream founder Adam Again and JAN3 CEO Samson Mow.
Notably, the trailer doesn’t undoubtedly declare to have discovered the reply to the “web’s best thriller,” and lots of imagine the query will stay unanswered. Nonetheless, a subsequent Politico report claimed that the documentary had unmasked Satoshi’s identification.
In response to Politico, the documentary identifies Satoshi and will probably reveal hyperlinks between Bitcoin’s creator and prison exercise. Whereas the documentary has but to air, the Politico report has fueled intense debate and hypothesis inside the trade.
Hypothesis reignited
The principle candidates within the present speculative discussions concerning the documentary are Len Sassaman, Hal Finney, and Adam Again, all of whom the neighborhood has beforehand theorized to be Satoshi Nakamoto.
Again has constantly denied these claims and maintains that he’s not the unique creator of Bitcoin. In the meantime, Sassaman and Finney handed away greater than a decade in the past, and there’s no substantiated proof that both of them was Satoshi regardless of their early involvement with Bitcoin.
Alex Thorn, head of analysis at Galaxy Digital, weighed in on the hypothesis, suggesting that if the documentary identifies Sassaman as Satoshi, it may have minimal market disruption by assuaging the issues round his vital holdings.
He mentioned in a social media submit:
“If that’s who the doc identifies, [it] must be impartial to constructive for BTCUSD provided that Len died in 2011 (RIP).”
Author Evan Hatch, who explored the idea that Sassaman could possibly be Satoshi in 2021, acknowledged his involvement in a earlier documentary that additionally examined the cryptographer’s potential hyperlink to Bitcoin’s creation.
Nonetheless, Hatch and others in the neighborhood are treating the most recent claims with warning till the documentary airs and supplies extra concrete particulars.
Politico criticized
The Politico report has additionally confronted backlash from the neighborhood, notably from Helius Labs CEO Mert Mumtaz, who criticized the article’s framing of Bitcoin’s historical past and the affiliation it attracts between Bitcoin and prison exercise.
Mumtaz expressed frustration with the report’s tone, writing:
“Within the first paragraph, they someway attempt to body it as an anti-Trump and Elon factor as a result of checks notes Bitcoin has been used for crime earlier than.”
Mumtaz condemned the suggestion that Satoshi might bear accountability for prison acts facilitated by Bitcoin, arguing that fiat currencies are additionally utilized in unlawful transactions with out drawing the identical stage of scrutiny.
He mentioned:
“Why don’t you go [and] arrest all governments on earth for issuing money then?”
Many within the crypto neighborhood share comparable frustrations with conventional media, which it believes usually emphasizes Bitcoin’s connection to unlawful actions whereas downplaying its revolutionary impression on monetary methods.
As the discharge date for the HBO documentary approaches, anticipation continues to construct. The query of Satoshi Nakamoto’s true identification has been one of many best mysteries within the crypto world, and the brand new claims, no matter their veracity, have reignited widespread curiosity.