A newly released documentary claims that the pseudonym ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’ was not an individual, but a collective alias for two prominent cryptographers who collaborated to create Bitcoin before their deaths: Hal Finney and Len Sassaman.
The film, directed by Tucker Tooley and Matthew Miele, reveals a four-year investigation led by business writer William D. Cohan and investigator Tyler Maroney, focusing on one of the biggest mysteries of the 21st century. Featuring numerous interviews with billionaires and computer scientists who inadvertently contributed to identifying Satoshi’s identity, the documentary minimizes controversy since its primary suspects are deceased.
The film is noted for featuring Fran Finney, widow of the late cryptographer, who acknowledges her husband’s potential role in Bitcoin’s creation. William D. Cohan, speaking to Decrypt, remarked on this as a particularly impactful moment. Additionally, Len Sassaman’s widow, Meredith L. Patterson, evaluates the possibility of her late spouse being Satoshi after other candidates like Adam Back, Nick Szabo, and others are considered.
The documentary delves into the digital underground culture that influenced Bitcoin’s creation, highlighting figures such as privacy advocate Phil Zimmermann, who developed Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) in the early ’90s. Both Sassaman and Finney contributed to PGP’s encryption; the film speculates that Finney wrote Bitcoin’s code while Sassaman authored its foundational white paper.
The narrative reaches a pivotal point on April 22nd with the official trailer release for #FindingSatoshi. Before narrowing down suspects, the directors explore cultural origins such as the Extropians and early cryptocurrency concepts like Adam Back’s Hashcash, which was also recently suggested as Satoshi in a New York Times article.
William D. Cohan suggests that the true creator of Bitcoin wasn’t driven by wealth, referencing the approximately 1.1 million Bitcoins held. The investigation benefits from Kathleen Puckett’s expertise, a former FBI agent who analyzed the motivations behind the white paper, concluding money was not a primary motivator. Through Alyssa Blackburn’s data analysis comparing online activity, Finney and Sassaman emerge as fitting profiles.
A noted discrepancy involves Satoshi’s emails coinciding with Finney’s participation in a race, suggesting that while Finney might have coded, Sassaman crafted the writing. Despite various interviews across the crypto world providing little new insight, an interview with Sam Bankman-Fried was excluded from the final cut due to his subsequent conviction for fraud.
Interviews with prominent figures like Michael Saylor and Bill Gates reveal a downplaying of Satoshi’s identity significance, leaving investigators without substantial leads. William D. Cohan comments on spending over a year interviewing numerous individuals whose stories could merit separate documentaries but failed to advance the investigation.