WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.
Some say we live in the best time for documentaries – they are certainly being created at a higher rate than at any time in history, but for every “My Octopus Teacher,” a truly inspiring and extraordinary human story, there is the opposite: criticism. trash like “Money Electric.”
Let’s start by admitting that “Money Electric” raised its stakes, entering a week-long cycle with the promise of a big reveal – that the world will finally know who the anonymous creator of Bitcoin Satoshi Nakamoto is.
Maybe let’s put aside the baggage of history there. Sure, many journalists have died on this hill, but surely “The Money Electric” might have something to add to the conversation? Well, from the trailer, it looks like they’re spending millions of dollars paying for Samson Mow’s food as he preaches Bitcoin around the world. (It’s always good to support education!)
There was even a hint that maybe there could be something inspired here, a shot that continued to show the progression of cypherpunks, all with interesting stories. Maybe the “big reveal” was just a ploy to keep our attention, and maybe there will be a series of revelations (none taken too seriously) that add up to a compelling story about what Bitcoin is and what it can become.
Sadly, it isn’t. For most of its running time, “Money Electric” hides its motivations, following its star (director Cullen Hoback) as he dives into the world of Bitcoin. But it’s clear as the film reveals that the creators had no other motive than to cast someone like Satoshi.
How does a big-budget movie end up slipping into a straight-up conspiracy theory, ditching another historical “Block Size Wars” as a way to present an almost completely unappealing suspense?
Hint: The impetus for the big reveal here is that Peter Todd may have worked with an undercover government agent to promote his Bitcoin roadmap ideas.
It is here that things come out (or start to go to the main program). After making us suffer in his wrong way, Hoback and Co. they finally played their cards, and found a series of evidence that Adam Back and Peter Todd (and Greg Maxwell for some reason) were all secretly Satoshi.
Indeed, the most unusual and repeated ideas.
From there, we see a series of “gotchas” that could easily have been ruled out if the directors had done basic follow-up research.
Let’s review:
- Peter Todd and Adam Back corresponded on cryptography lists when they were young. This is true, and widely known. It’s something that Peter and Adam commented on publicly and it doesn’t say much, except for the fact that the cryptography list was open to the public, and included almost hundreds of members.
- Peter Todd’s first BitcoinTalk posting happened when Satoshi left – And, another well-known. In fact, the post is written in Todd’s snarky style, but we have to believe that this was a misremembering that he was actually Satoshi and talking to himself. (Or so the director thinks). Don’t forget that his forum name at the time was “rep,” and because no one knew who he was, he could easily remove it.
- Peter Todd once made a joke about removing Bitcoin. This is used to support the theory that he burned Satoshi’s keys.
- Adam Back discussed Bitcoin on the cryptography mailing list after Bitcoin was launched – Giving credit where it’s due, this is also something I didn’t know. But again, if we look at the archive we can see things that support Back’s claim that he was not yet interested in Bitcoin. In the emails, Back responds indifferently to the hype surrounding Bitcoin (and it rises above $30), and there is even an answer where he complains about why Satoshi (whose name he spelled wrong) did not add a certain feature that he thought would benefit him. . Again, 5 minutes of Googling.
- Todd and Back were cahoots, involved in hiding the fact that they created Bitcoin. Ta-da. That’s why he didn’t join Blockstream! (Of course this was said, in fact, by the director of the film.)
In retrospect, it’s hard to know what to say about this series other than it’s both an artistic marvel and a criticism, and if you say this, know that it’s hardly a compliment.
To begin with, Hoback makes no formal attempt to involve Back or Todd in his discovery. He simply presents the story as he finds it, records his response, and then closes the shop. It makes sense, even someone like me will admit that there is a non-zero chance Back or Todd was Satoshi. There aren’t many people you can’t rule out completely, and they are among them.
Unfortunately, a non-zero chance is not a smoking gun. It is not evidence.
Todd and Back’s online presence, while scraping the web, is accessible. I have read it. No, they weren’t the only ones involved in digital currency to wipe things out.
Yes, by the magic of editing, and by presenting the “findings” uncritically, I’m sure many viewers will walk away thinking they’ve been presented with an intelligent and well-researched theory.
All Hoback has proven to me is that he understands the shortcuts you can take when making a documentary. It is the only one among creative works that allows you to hide all your mistakes behind the scenes, while making baseless and dangerous accusations seem plausible.
And to be clear, that someone is Satoshi without proof is exactly that.
Let’s hope no one gets hurt because of his stupidity.
Be careful: I interviewed the producer of “Electric money” sometime in 2021. It was not recorded. I have not been in contact with the documentation team.
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