KEY POINTS
- HBO will unveil its findings about Satoshi Nakamoto on Tuesday via a documentary
- A $4.6 million bet on Polymarket has Len Sassaman with a very wide lead
- Hal Finney, the first person to receive $BTC from Satoshi, is also touted as a contender for the title
Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious creator of Bitcoin, was trending on X early Monday as the cryptocurrency world awaits HBO's documentary film that claims to have unmasked the creator of the world's first decentralized digital currency.
Many crypto users are looking forward to the docu-film's release on Tuesday, Oct. 8 on HBO Max. As the Bitcoin community discussed the upcoming film and its anticipated reveal of the person or entity behind Satoshi Nakamoto, Polymarket capitalized on the excitement.
HBO Teases Unmasking of the Real Satoshi
HBO released a trailer for the documentary last week, gaining over a million views in a few days. "Satoshi Nakamoto, the inventor of Bitcoin, could be one of the richest people on Earth. But many years ago, Satoshi had disappeared, and with Bitcoin being woven into the fabric of the financial system, solidifying its role as digital gold, perhaps the question of Satoshi's identity was more pressing than ever," a voice over in the trailer says.
In the future of money, who holds the power?
— HBO Documentaries (@HBODocs) October 3, 2024
The @HBO Original Documentary #MoneyElectric: The Bitcoin Mystery premieres October 8 on @StreamOnMax. pic.twitter.com/3gEwTqYaAq
Many theories have emerged regarding who the real Satoshi Nakamoto is. Controversial political commentator Tucker Carlson was among those who said Satoshi is actually the CIA.
On decentralized market prediction platform Polymarket, crypto bettors managed to pour over $4.6 million so far into an event contract that asked who the HBO documentary will identify as the BTC creator.
Len Sassaman in the Lead
As of early Monday, 40.5% of the bets are on American computer systems engineer Len Sassaman, who was known for being a wunderkind in cryptography.
Sassman is best known for his privacy advocacy, as well as a trove of publications and conference presentations – many of them were on financial cryptography. Notably, after he died by suicide on July 3, 2011, a memorial was encoded into block 138735 on the Bitcoin blockchain. "Len was our friend. A brilliant mind, a kind soul, and a devious schemer," the tribute reads.
Meredith L. Patterson, Sassaman's wife, said that "to the best of my knowledge, Len was not Satoshi." Despite Patterson's clarification, it appears many Bitcoiners still believe Sassaman is the real Satoshi.
Alex Thorn of Galaxy Digital has also said he was hearing the HBO documentary will reveal Sassaman as Satoshi Nakamoto.
For @cryptosimbiiote, the most striking "piece of evidence" linking Sassaman to Satoshi is "that Nakamoto went silent two months before Sasssman's death." Nakamoto's last communication revealed that he/they "moved on to other things."
5/➮ The most interesting piece of evidence is that Nakamoto went silent two months before Sassaman's death
— symbiote (@cryptosymbiiote) October 5, 2024
🕷 But while some are convinced it was him, there are also those who absolutely do not believe it
For example, his wife (here's what she wrote)👇 pic.twitter.com/WwYb0OzOq0
Cryptosimbiiote, a well-followed figure in the crypto space, went on to note that Sassaman's suicide note "consisted of 24 random words, which obviously bears a strong resemblance to the 24-word seed phrases used in cryptocurrency wallets."
Hal Finney Also a Strong Contender?
Finney, an American software developer, was the first person to ever receive Bitcoin from Satoshi. The transaction was completed on Jan. 12, 2009, wherein Finney received 10 BTC. He is also among the figures being touted as the potential real Satoshi on Polymarket.
Finney is widely recognized in the Bitcoin community for being an early adopter, a veteran in BTC mining, and his statements regarding the cryptocurrency's potential and eventual meteoric rise.
Other notable names Polymarket bettors are putting their money on for the event contract are Blockstream CEO Adam Back, and even international drug dealer Paul Le Roux.
Among the people who made it to the list and are getting some of the bets, Sassaman and Finney are the closest so far in terms of links and ties to Bitcoin and Satoshi. It remains to be seen whether HBO will provide conclusive evidence on the person it will identify as the creator of now the largest digital asset by market value.
