A new HBO documentary titled “Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery” has reignited speculation about the true identity of Bitcoin’s elusive creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, with Leonard “Len” Sassaman emerging as the leading candidate among cryptocurrency enthusiasts and prediction market participants.
Directed by Cullen Hoback, known for his previous investigative work on QAnon, the documentary was announced on October 3. While the trailer doesn’t specifically point to any potential Satoshi contenders, participants in the betting market Polymarket are heavily favoring Sassaman, with 44.5% predicting he could be Nakamoto.
Sassaman’s background makes him a compelling candidate. He was a cryptography expert involved in the cypherpunk movement and worked closely with major figures like David Chaum, often referred to as the “godfather of crypto.” He contributed to key privacy projects, including Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) software. Adding to the intrigue is the timing of Satoshi’s last known communication in April 2011, which occurred just two months before Sassaman’s tragic death by suicide at age 31.
Other speculated candidates, including Hal Finney, Adam Back, Nick Szabo, and Paul Le Roux, have also been discussed in prediction markets, but Sassaman has garnered the most attention following the documentary’s announcement.
This buzz has led to a surge in the creation of memecoins themed around Len Sassaman, who many believe could be Nakamoto, and even his beloved cats, Sasha and ODIN.
In the lead-up to the documentary’s release, opportunistic traders have issued LEN tokens on the Solana and Ethereum networks, seeing market capitalizations of several million dollars before paring gains. A Solana-based LEN token, created over four months ago, rose last week to hit over $1.6 million in market value. In a quirky twist, meme tokens featuring Sassaman’s cats have also emerged, with SASHA tokens on Ethereum and Solana reaching a market cap of over $5 million.
Crypto enthusiasts have even reached out to Sassaman’s widow, Meredith L. Patterson, asking about these tokens and receiving a Solana address for donations in return. Memecoins often stem from internet culture, where communities rally around humor or shared interests, creating value through engagement.
Some crypto speculators see these memecoins as an underpriced opportunity, anticipating a revelation in the documentary. The Polymarket odds, as of Monday, put Sassaman at the top, followed by other candidates.
