- Stephen Molla told a crowd of reporters in London that he was Satoshi Nakamoto.
- Peter Todd, a key Bitcoin developer, was mistakenly named Nakamoto in an HBO documentary last month.
Another man has come forward claiming to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious creator behind Bitcoin.
This time it’s Stephen Mollah. Mollah took to the stage at London’s Front Line Club in front of about a dozen journalists and made the claims, with one journalist calling it a “bizarre set-up”.
BBC journalist Joe Tidy live-tweeted the event via X. “It was a strange set-up because the press conference organizer asked me to attend and pay £500 to appear on stage and ask questions to a billionaire mystery man.”
I attended an event in London titled ‘Revealing the True Legal Identity of Bitcoin Inventor Satoshi Nakamoto’. The strange set-up for the press conference came as the host asked me to pay £500 to attend and appear on stage to ask questions to the billionaire mystery man. pic.twitter.com/3oTB6qX20U
— Joe Tidy (@joetidy) October 31, 2024
According to Mollah, he has previously claimed to be Nakamoto, and there is currently a legal dispute over this, and he is now ready to provide evidence. He said he tried to reveal who he was in 2016, but “someone stopped him.”
After hearing Mollah’s backstory for an hour, he was unable to provide evidence. Instead, he provided a series of screenshots that could easily be forged. When asked to move some of his Genesis Bitcoin, Mollah said he would do so in the ‘next few months.’
Mola and event organizer Charles Anderson were charged with fraud when Molla posed as Nakamoto from November 2022 to October last year. Both men pleaded not guilty at a hearing last month, The Standard reported.
Another one on the list
Mollah joins a growing list of people claiming to be Nakamoto or believing others are Nakamoto.
Last month, the HBO documentary Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery incorrectly named Bitcoin core developer Peter Todd as Nakamoto. Ahead of the big reveal, the documentary pointed out Blockstream founder Adam Back.
After the documentary, Todd said he was forced underground out of fear for his safety.
Other people believed to be Nakamoto include the late software engineer Hal Finney and computer scientist Nick Szabo.
Last May, the British High Court ruled against Australian Craigt Wright that he was Nakamoto, claiming that Wright had lied “extensively and repeatedly” throughout the trial and that he had “fabricated” to support his claims. He was accused of presenting evidence that was “confirmed.”