On October 3, documentary director Cullen Hoback and HBO recently announced that the documentary (Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery) will expose the true identity of "Satoshi Nakamoto", the creator behind Bitcoin. This statement has attracted special attention and discussion in the industry. Some people even said, "Cullen Hoback's discovery will shock the world and even the US election."
Cullen Hoback said on social media X yesterday, "Some of you may be wondering why I disappeared. Well, I'm investigating another missing person. Curious about who is behind Bitcoin? (Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery) will be revealed on Tuesday. It will be a roller coaster ride."
Cullen Hoback also said, "Given the expected performance of the design market, I won't reveal too many details. It's only a few days away from the release."
Bettors are mixed on confidence that Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity will eventually be revealed, according to data from Polymarket, where traders assess that HBO’s latest documentary could tie Len Sassaman to the creation of Bitcoin.
Currently in Polymarket, bettors are favoring Len Sassaman over Hal Finney as the potential Satoshi. Sassaman currently leads with 49% odds, while Finney is at 14%. Hoback said, "I will not be betting, but I can confirm that we will settle on a specific name."
Cryptographer Len Sassaman is known for developing privacy tools such as PGP and Mixmaster. His commitment to privacy and decentralization is highly consistent with the core principles of Bitcoin.
Sassaman died in 2011 shortly after Nakamoto went missing, sparking speculation that the two might be the same person. Nakamoto has not been online since December 13, 2010.
At the same time, people speculated that Hal Finney might be Satoshi Nakamoto, because Finney was the first person to download and run the Bitcoin software after Satoshi Nakamoto. In January 2009, Finney also received the first Bitcoin transaction from Satoshi Nakamoto, which established a direct connection between them.
Finney's early involvement in Bitcoin and its community has sparked speculation that he is the creator of Bitcoin. One theory is that Finney concealed his identity to protect his privacy and avoid government scrutiny.
In addition to Sassaman and Finney, other possible candidates for Satoshi Nakamoto exposed by HBO include famous computer scientist and cryptographer Nicholas Szabo and Blockstream CEO Adam Back.
Craig Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto, according to a British court ruling, but somehow he appeared on the list. His probability is currently 2%. Elon Musk also participated in the vote, with a probability of less than 1%.
The following article (The History of Cypherpunks: Len Sassaman and Satoshi) is a nearly 9,000-word article published in 2021 that speculates that Len Sassamanda is Satoshi Nakamoto, a scholar living in Belgium, Europe. Both his daily routine and the content of his posts are consistent with the time when Satoshi Nakamoto founded Bitcoin.
I hope this article will be helpful to readers. It is for reference only. The following is the full text of the article.
We have lost too many hackers to suicide. What if Satoshi was one of them?
An obituary has been embedded in every node on the Bitcoin network. It’s a hacked transaction in memory of Len Sassaman, who has essentially been immortalized in the blockchain. In many ways, it’s a fitting tribute.
Len is a true cypherpunk - brilliant, uninhibited, and idealistic. He has dedicated his life to defending individual freedom through cryptography, working as a developer of PGP encryption and open source privacy technology, and as an academic cryptographer studying P2P networks under the guidance of blockchain inventor David Chaum.
He is also a pillar of the hacker community: a friend and influencer to many important figures in the history of information security and cryptocurrency.