A Canadian software developer is denying a documentary’s claim that he is Satoshi Nakamoto, saying he would not have participated if he had known the film would focus on unmasking the pseudonymous Bitcoin creator.

“Falsely accusing an ordinary person of ordinary wealth of having tens of billions of dollars puts them at risk for obvious reasons,” Peter Todd said in an email to The Logic, saying he has made emergency travel plans to protect himself. “Trying to find Satoshi is a bad idea that’s just likely to get people hurt.”

The HBO documentary Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery debuted Tuesday evening, citing similarities in Todd’s and Satoshi’s writing styles and other circumstantial evidence to support its central claim. Todd contributed to Bitcoin’s core software in its early days and was 23 when Satoshi released the famous white paper introducing the core concepts behind the protocol in 2008.

The documentary prominently features Canadian Bitcoin company Blockstream and its role in facilitating El Salvador’s controversial adoption of the digital asset as legal tender. Blockstream CEO Adam Back—another person some have speculated could be Satoshi—and former Blockstream executive Samson Mow gave interviews.

Todd said he participated in multiple interviews over many hours with director Cullen Hoback, who appeared to be making a documentary about Bitcoin in general and “only brought up the Satoshi stuff” in the final interview. After that, both Todd and Back stopped participating, he said. Hoback did not respond to The Logic’s request for comment via X.

Satoshi’s identity has been the subject of debate and speculation for more than a decade, including a notorious 2014 Newsweek story that alleged physicist Dorian Nakamoto was behind the pseudonym. Dorian Nakamoto has denied the claim.

In an interview with CNN, Hoback argued Satoshi’s identity is a matter of public interest, given the Bitcoin creator’s control over a significant amount of the digital asset. “If Bitcoin had petered out, if it wasn’t being embraced by nation states, wasn’t being incorporated into 401(k)s, it would be a different story,” he said.

Many in the Bitcoin community argue Satoshi should be allowed to remain anonymous. Privacy is a core value behind the creation of the protocol, as is the idea that no one person controls or speaks for it—including its creator.

The documentary’s claims have been met with derision among Bitcoiners posting on social media. A clip of Todd laughing, reacting to an interviewer presenting him with the evidence the filmmakers collected supporting the claim he is Satoshi has been circulated widely.

Prior to the documentary’s release, Todd was not among the names commonly circulated as possible Satoshi contenders. A contract on crypto betting platform Polymarket listed late privacy advocate Len Sassaman, smart-contracts pioneer Nick Szabo and programmer and criminal cartel boss Paul Le Roux among those most likely to be named by the documentary before it aired. Todd’s name did not appear on the list.