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Peter Todd (programmer)

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Grayfell (talk | contribs) at 21:11, 23 February 2025 (→Biography: Cointelegraph is not a reliable source and this is both a WP:BLP and WP:GOSSIP issue. Discuss on talk, please.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Peter Todd
Born
Canada
EducationOntario College of Art and Design
Occupation(s)Cryptographer, software developer
Known forBitcoin development, cryptography
Notable workOpenTimestamps
Websitehttps://petertodd.org/

Peter Todd is a Canadian cryptographer and software developer who was an early contributor to the development of Bitcoin.[1] Todd has been involved in cryptocurrency since the early 2010s and has worked on blockchain and privacy-focused projects.[2]

Biography

Peter Todd was born in Canada. When he was 15 years old he began communicating with cypherpunks like Adam Back and Hal Finney.[3] Before his career as a core developer, Peter Todd attended the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto.[3]

Identification with Satoshi Nakamoto

The 2024 HBO documentary Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery by Cullen Hoback named Todd as Bitcoin's pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. Todd has publicly denied being Nakamoto, stating in the film that it was "ludicrous".[4][5]

The film notes that days after initially joining the Bitcoin forum in 2010 Todd corrects Nakamoto on a technicality in one of Satoshi's last posts, just an hour after the initial post was made; then disappears online alongside Satoshi. Todd claims a lack of involvement in Bitcoin development until two years later.[6] Hoback raises questions about whether this interaction suggests a deeper involvement much earlier, and whether Todd’s alleged history of using an alternate persona to create a “Replace by Fee” patch, indicates an MO to do the same when creating Bitcoin.[7][8] Hoback’s theory includes a range of circumstantial evidence including Todd’s alignment with Adam Back and Gregory Maxwell of Blockstream and their alignment with an alleged 2014 email from Satoshi’s address during the so-called block size war.[9][10] Hoback also notes Nakamoto's use of Canadian English, as well as a subsequent chat post by Todd where he rued being "the world's leading expert on how to sacrifice your bitcoins [...] I've done one such sacrifice and I did it by hand." Hoback characterized the latter as an admission by Todd of having destroyed access to the Bitcoin believed to be held by Nakamoto. Though Hoback acknowledges that the evidence is speculative.[11]

In the film, Todd denied that he was Nakamoto, stating that it was "ludicrous" and "grasping at straws", and criticized Hoback by saying that it was "ironic that a director who is also known for a documentary on QAnon has resorted to QAnon style coincidence-based conspiracy thinking here too".[12][13]

References

  1. ^ "Peter Todd: I am not Bitcoin inventor, says man named in HBO film". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  2. ^ "HBO Documentary Suggests Bitcoin Creator Satoshi Nakamoto Is Developer Peter Todd". Bloomberg.com. 2024-10-09. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  3. ^ a b "Bitcoin creator is Peter Todd, HBO film says". POLITICO. 2024-10-09. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  4. ^ "Bitcoin creator is Peter Todd, HBO film says". POLITICO. 2024-10-09. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  5. ^ "Peter Todd: I am not Bitcoin inventor, says man named in HBO film". BBC.com. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
  6. ^ "Mystery creator of Bitcoin identified, new HBO documentary claims". POLITICO. Oct 3, 2024. Archived from the original on October 4, 2024. Retrieved Oct 5, 2024.
  7. ^ Roose, Kevin; Newton, Casey (October 11, 2024). "A Flood of A.I. Slop, Searching for Satoshi, the Hot Mess Express Returns". Hard Fork Podcast. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
  8. ^ Sarlin, Jon (2024-10-09). "'I am not Satoshi Nakamoto': Subject of HBO documentary denies he invented bitcoin | CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved 2024-12-03.
  9. ^ Dugan, Kevin T. (2024-10-08). "A Quest to Unmask Bitcoin Inventor Satoshi Nakamoto Finds a Man Named Peter Todd". Intelligencer. Retrieved 2024-12-03.
  10. ^ Sarlin, Jon (2024-10-09). "'I am not Satoshi Nakamoto': Subject of HBO documentary denies he invented bitcoin | CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved 2024-12-03.
  11. ^ Bambrough, Billy (October 8, 2024). "Who Is Peter Todd, The Man Named By HBO As Bitcoin's Mystery Creator Satoshi Nakamoto?". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
  12. ^ Roberts, Jeff John (October 9, 2024). "HBO doc reveals Bitcoin creator is Peter Todd—that's wrong but 'Money Electric' is still a good watch". Fortune Crypto. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
  13. ^ Sarlin, Jon (9 October 2024). "'I am not Satoshi Nakamoto': Subject of HBO documentary denies he invented bitcoin | CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
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