For those still intrigued by the rise of Bitcoin and, more importantly, the mysterious figure who started it, a new documentary will seek to answer all of your most pressing questions.
Directed by Matthew Miele Finding Satoshi will investigate the origins of Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin, whose identity and invention remains secret. In other words, he is basically the Banksy of crypto.
The film aims to be the most comprehensive work examining cryptocurrency to date and will feature bestselling author William Cohan interviewing notable experts on the topic. Other subjects in the film include Fred Ehrsam, the co-founder of Coinbasae; Gary Gensler, former chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; and Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
“With Matthew at the helm and Bill’s investigative complexity and nuance added to the mix, we are thrilled to start the hunt for answers about Satoshi Nakamoto and examine the rise of perhaps the greatest challenge to our financial world order as we know it,” said producer Tucker Tooley.
Bitcoin was first created in 2008 by Nakamoto — although no one knows if that is a singular person or group of people using the name — and began use the following year. 2010 saw the first commercial transaction using Bitcoin take place when a programmer named Laszlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for ₿10,000 in the US.
Since its inception, Bitcoin has been criticised for its less than desirable environmental impact, especially after a study by Cambridge University revealed that the cryptocurrency consumes around 121.36 terawatt-hours a year, which is more than an entire country.
In fact, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk backtracked his decision to accept Bitcoin as payment for Tesla vehicles, citing that the concerns around its energy consumption were contradictory to the car company’s brand values. Musk’s announcement on Twitter, not long after Tesla had purchased $1 billion of the cryptocurrency, resulted in the lowest-ever plunge of Bitcoin in just a matter of weeks.
Meanwhile, in October 2021, an Australian computer scientist named Dr Craig Steven Wright came forward claiming that it was, in fact, him who had invented Bitcoin, prompting Ira Kleiman — the sister of the late David Kleiman — to take Wright to court arguing that her brother was actually a co-creator of the crypto.
Kleiman alleges that her brother, who died in 2013, collaborated with Wright to develop Bitcoin, and is therefore entitled to up to half of the 1.1 million coins in the original wallet, which today are valued at an eye-watering $92 billion dollars.
Perhaps all will finally be revealed when Finding Satoshi finally lands on our screens.
Read more stories from The Latch and subscribe to our email newsletter.
