Peter Todd (programmer)

Peter Todd is a Canadian software developer who was an early contributor to the development of Bitcoin.^[1] Todd has been involved in cryptocurrency since the early 2010s and has worked on blockchain and privacy-focused projects.^[2]

Peter Todd
Born	Canada
Education	Ontario College of Art and Design
Occupation	Software developer
Known for	Bitcoin development
Notable work	OpenTimestamps
Website	https://petertodd.org/

Biography

Peter Todd was born in Canada. When he was 15 years old he began communicating with cypherpunks like Adam Back and Hal Finney.^[3] Before his career as a core developer, Peter Todd attended the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto.^[3]

In 2019, Todd filed a defamation suit against former Tor developer Isis Lovecruft after they publicly accused him of rape and sexual misconduct on Twitter.^[4]

Cryptocurrency involvement

In 2014 Todd stated that Gavin Andresen had been responsible for code changes that resulted in Bitcoin's rising fees.^[5] In 2017 Todd was against an increase in the Bitcoin block size in relation to the controversy surrounding the Bitcoin scalability problem and SegWit.^[6]

The 2024 HBO documentary Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery by Cullen Hoback named Todd as Bitcoin's pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. Todd has publicly denied being Nakamoto, stating in the film that it was "ludicrous".^[3][1] Hoback's theory includes a range of circumstantial evidence.^[7][8] In the film, Todd denied that he was Nakamoto, saying that it was "ludicrous" and "grasping at straws". Todd criticized Hoback for "QAnon style coincidence-based conspiracy thinking".^[9][8] No concrete evidence has been presented to support the claim, and the theory remains entirely speculative.