On Friday, during a speech delivered at a private event at the bitcoin 2024 conference, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson sparked a controversy in the bitcoin community by claiming that the cryptocurrency was, in fact, developed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). While he defended bitcoin’s transformative potential for financial sovereignty, Carlson suggested that its origins might be less than organic.
Was bitcoin created by the CIA?
Carlson mused: “crypto people aren’t just in this to make money. They’re in this to change the world forever. They’re not shallow people. They’re people who can answer every question except who Satoshi was, which they don’t. Somebody should answer that. They didn’t. I think we know that.”
The former Fox News host also hinted that there was one person in the room who knew Satoshi Nakamoto’s identity. However, he doesn’t believe him. “Anyway, I actually have a friend who’s probably sitting here who told me that he did know, but I don’t believe him.”
Despite this, Tucker still sees bitcoin as the ultimate instrument for facilitating financial freedom, even if it was originally developed by the CIA. He concluded: “And I don’t care if it was the CIA. It doesn’t matter. The idea is still a great idea. Obviously it was the CIA. I think we all know that. It’s like Signal. They got there first. It’s a honeytap.”
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Tucker says the CIA invented bitcoin
What's more likely: that it was built by some secret guy with a Japanese name or by a powerful government? image.twitter.com/6jn6e3MfVv
—Jake Shields (@jakeshieldsajj) twitter.com/jakeshieldsajj/status/1818551862637084954?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>July 31, 2024
The response to Carlson's comments was swift and varied. David Icke, a well-known English conspiracy theorist, x.com/davidicke/status/1818605031752454614″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow”>bound The accusation is aimed at broader political movements, asking: “If the CIA started bitcoin, Tucker, and now Trump and his Silicon Valley cabal are pushing it, then do you think there might be more to it by any chance?”
In stark contrast to Icke's intrigue, Saifedean Ammous, author of “The bitcoin Standard,” x.com/saifedean/status/1818624584402289061″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow”>fired The notion of hidden layers: “bitcoin is software that you can read and audit yourself. There is nothing but the software that you read and that has been read by thousands of people for fifteen years.”
Similarly, John Hawkins, author of “101 Things Every Young Adult Should Know,” criticized Carlson’s claim as baseless: “Tucker doesn’t have the slightest clue. He’s just wildly speculating on nothing.”
Tyler Durden, a long-time figure in the community, x.com/TylerDurden/status/1818686257784143975″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener nofollow”>disproved
The theory that btc was a government creation has circulated in bitcoin circles for years, fueled by the mysterious personality of Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of bitcoin. Nakamoto’s identity has remained an enigma, leading to numerous theories about his true identity and intentions. Nakamoto’s last known public communications date back to December 2010 and early 2011. After this period, Nakamoto handed over control of the btc repository and the network’s alert key to prominent members of the community, including Gavin Andresen.
In April 2011, Gavin Andresen, one of the lead developers of bitcoin, announced that he had been invited to speak at a CIA conference. Some have cited this event as a possible trigger for Nakamoto's withdrawal from the project. Andresen's invitation to speak at the CIA conference might have worried Nakamoto, possibly prompting his withdrawal from public participation to avoid scrutiny from government agencies.
At the time of writing, btc was trading at $63,856.
Featured image from Poynter, chart from TradingView.com
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