Famous political speaker Tucker Carlson has a lot of respect for Bitcoin, and is apparently very confident about the identity of its creator.
During a private event on Friday held at Bitcoin 2024, the former Fox News host spoke at length about why crypto is the world's best tool for enabling financial sovereignty—even though it was invented by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
“Obviously it was the CIA, we all know that,” said Carlson with a laugh. “It's like Signal, they got there first. It's a honeytrap!”
According to Carlson, crypto enthusiasts are highly intellectual and can seemingly answer any question besides those relating to the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto. “Somebody should answer that,” he said. “I think we know.”
The conservative podcaster's comments drew significant attention online, including from popular English conspiracy theorist David Icke.
Tucker's theory is hardly new: unsubstantiated tales about CIA involvement with Bitcoin have long circulated on Reddit.
In fact, the CIA once confirmed that it had initiated projects focused on cryptocurrency to combat ransomware schemes. Ex-CIA boss Michael Morell even once called it a “boon for surveillance,” considering blockchain analysis a “highly effective crime-fighting and intelligence gathering tool.”
But that's about as far as the evidence goes, with the rest boiling down to skepticism that “some secret guy with a Japanese name” created the first decentralized currency.
As far as Bitcoiners are concerned, the man behind Bitcoin doesn't really matter at this point, given that the project's code and ledger are 100% transparent.
Bitcoin is software you can read and audit yourself. There is nothing more to it than the software you read and it's been read by thousands for fifteen years.
— Saifedean Ammous (@saifedean) July 31, 2024
Carlson wholeheartedly agrees with that viewpoint. “It doesn't make it any less a history-transforming technology,” he said. “Crypto gives the average person the freedom to conduct his affairs without oversight or control.”
Still, to live up to its potential, Carlson believes Bitcoin needs to overcome its adoption hurdle as a medium of exchange, not just a store of value. That includes convincing the general population to accept BTC for payments, and making it private enough so that he can't be tracked and punished for using it.
“If you can find a way to solve those problems, I'd liquidate and put every bit into Bitcoin—I mean it,” he said. “I think [Bitcoin holds] the key to keeping alive the country that I grew up in.”
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.