A clip went viral this week of a professor declaring that Bitcoin is a CIA surveillance tool and demanded to know "where are the servers?"
We’re 17 years in and the basic facts of what Bitcoin actually is still get lost. Which is one of the reasons why I found the Finding Satoshi documentary worth watching.
It's not what I initially expected. It's less about putting a name on Satoshi and more about tracing where Bitcoin came from: the ideas, the people, the years of cryptographic work that made it possible.
For the record, I don't think we need to unmask Satoshi. There's something beautiful about a creator who walked away and let the protocol speak for itself.
And this also isn't like the New York Times piece that recently dropped falsely naming Adam Back…that was based on circumstantial writing analysis, no cryptographic proof, plus Back has denied these claims for years. NYT got it wrong.
What really got me were the moments with Fran Finney. Hearing her talk about Hal - who he was, what he believed, how he helped change the world - hit me hard. Their love was an inspiration.
Behind all the code and the debates and the price charts, there are real people who poured their hearts into building something that could set the rest of us free.
Fran's love for Hal comes through in every word she shares, and her strength in carrying his legacy forward move me more than I can put into words.
The film also puts to rest the lazy narrative that Bitcoin is some CIA or NSA creation. It's not. Bitcoin came from cypherpunks who spent decades fighting for privacy, sovereignty, and individual freedom. That's a story worth knowing, and one worth holding onto.
Appearances in the film include Michael Saylor, Adam Back, Jameson Lopp and many more.
The film is launching soon, and pre-sale access is available exclusively at findingsatoshi.com/natalie - I was able to extend my followers a 20% discount with code NATALIE.
