A Two-Person Theory

The documentary Finding Satoshi, released globally on April 22 via FindingSatoshi.com, argues that Bitcoin was not created by one person but by two: the late cryptographers Hal Finney and Len Sassaman. The four-year investigation was led by New York Times bestselling author William D. Cohan and private investigator Tyler Maroney of Quest Research and Investigations, drawing on experts in cryptography, programming, and linguistics.

The filmmakers began with six credible suspects: Adam Back, Nick Szabo, Hal Finney, Len Sassaman, Paul Le Roux, and Wei Dai. Each was tested against a body of evidence covering on-chain activity patterns, writing samples, and professional timelines.

The Data Science Case

Data scientist Alyssa Blackburn analyzed Satoshi Nakamoto's early mining and communication activity and found consistent activity between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (PST). She concluded this pattern matched only Finney and Sassaman among the six candidates, calling it 'inconceivable' that Adam Back, Nick Szabo, or Wei Dai could fit. The finding cuts against a 2024 New York Times investigation that named Back as the leading suspect.

Hal Finney died of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) in August 2014. Will Price, co-founder of Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) Corp. and a colleague of Finney's for 15 years, pointed to a two-month gap in Finney's code commits immediately before Bitcoin's January 2009 launch. During that window, Finney was writing C++ on Windows, exactly the environment Bitcoin was built in, while contributing nothing to PGP work.

"What was going on in those two months that the last two months before the release of the Bitcoin source code, Hal made no commits to the source code at work? What was he working on? I think it was Bitcoin."

The Sassaman Evidence

Len Sassaman died by suicide in July 2011, roughly six months after Satoshi's last public post. He lived in Europe while Bitcoin was active and frequently used British spellings in his writing, consistent with Nakamoto's text. His doctoral advisor was David Chaum, widely recognized as the founding figure of cryptographic cash systems.

BitTorrent creator Bram Cohen, a close friend of both men, told the filmmakers that their interests and habits matched Satoshi's profile precisely:

"What they liked doing exactly matched what we know about Satoshi Nakamoto, because Satoshi, first and foremost, was a cypherpunk."

Cohen added that Sassaman's public criticism of Bitcoin may have been a deliberate tactic to avoid detection. Fran Finney, Hal's widow, appeared in the documentary and said she believes her husband helped build Bitcoin, finding the case presented in the film coherent. The filmmakers confirmed that neither widow holds access to Satoshi Nakamoto's private keys. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, whose company backed the film, called it 'the most thoughtful take on this subject' he had seen. Security researcher Jameson Lopp described it as 'easily the most expertly produced Bitcoin documentary'.

Why It Matters

Satoshi chose pseudonymity deliberately. It was not a stylistic preference. It was a security decision built into the project's architecture, and arguably a precondition for Bitcoin's credibility. Finney and Sassaman are both deceased. Their families are not. There are an estimated one million-plus bitcoin in wallets associated with Satoshi's early mining activity, and wrench attacks against identified Bitcoin holders have been rising. A four-year journalist-led investigation, backed by a publicly traded exchange with a direct commercial interest in Bitcoin's cultural legitimacy, is not a neutral exercise. Coinbase CEO endorsement and Jameson Lopp's stamp of quality will ensure wide circulation. The documentary may be the most sophisticated one yet. That makes the risk, not the research, the story.