Canadian Bitcoin developer Peter Todd sparked fresh debate over the identity of Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto. He posted on X that he had been discussing programming with adults since the age of 12 and was already communicating with cryptographers Adam Back and Hal Finney at 15 while attempting to create Bitcoin.
Todd made the remarks while criticizing the United Kingdom’s proposed restrictions on social media use for children under 16. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government plans to introduce rules inspired by Australia’s legislation, with measures that could limit access to platforms such as X, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat.
His comment that he was “trying to invent Bitcoin” quickly attracted attention from the crypto community, with many interpreting it as a claim that he played a central role in the cryptocurrency’s creation.
Several users mocked Todd’s comments and questioned whether a teenager could have contributed to such a revolutionary idea. Some dismissed his statement as exaggeration, while others argued that social media was not essential for technological innovation.
Software developer Mario Figueiredo challenged Todd’s recollection, arguing that many breakthroughs happened long before online platforms became common and that limiting children’s exposure to social media would not prevent future innovation.
Blockstream founder Adam Back stepped in to clarify the context of Todd’s statement. Back said there had been discussions about decentralized proof-of-work currencies long before Bitcoin appeared in 2009.
He shared records from old Bluesky and cypherpunk mailing lists that included conversations involving Todd and Hal Finney. One message from March 2001 showed Todd discussing how hashcash could evolve into a currency and describing the challenge of creating a decentralized database that could prevent double-spending.
Other conversations focused on peer-to-peer systems and decentralized network architecture. Back argued that Todd’s remarks should be viewed as references to attempts at building Bitcoin-like systems rather than evidence that he invented Bitcoin itself.
Speculation about Todd’s identity is not new. In 2024, the HBO documentary “Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery” suggested that Todd could be Satoshi Nakamoto. Filmmaker Cullen Hoback pointed to online posts and Todd’s history within the Bitcoin community as evidence.
Todd rejected the theory and called it absurd. He stated that he was not Satoshi and even joked that his reaction to reading the Bitcoin white paper was frustration at having not thought of the idea first.
The identity of Satoshi Nakamoto remains one of the biggest unanswered questions in technology. Over the years, several figures have been named as possible candidates, including Dorian Nakamoto, Craig Wright, Elon Musk, and Adam Back.
Earlier this year, Back himself denied claims made in a New York Times investigation that attempted to link him to Satoshi. He argued that similarities between his writings and Satoshi’s work were coincidences and maintained that keeping Bitcoin’s creator anonymous benefits the network.
