Crypto’s constituents Twitter users were quick to mock Tucker Carlson, who provided no evidence to back up his claims.
Controversial Tucker Carlson, a Fox News television host, has proposed an intriguing conspiracy theory linking airline delays in the United States and Canada to a rise in the Bitcoin price.
He speculated that the computer breakdown that caused the widespread delays was triggered by ransomware and that the US government may have purchased a huge amount of Bitcoin to pay the ransom.
He did not, however, present any evidence to back up his accusations.
Carlson contended on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight” broadcast on Jan. 17 that the Bitcoin (BTC) price rose 20%+ immediately after the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) verified the disruption on Jan. 11:
“Almost all ransoms like this are paid in Bitcoin. So if the US government was buying huge amounts of Bitcoin in order to pay a ransom, Bitcoin prices would surge, of course. So the question is has that happened? Well yes, it has happened.”
“Since the nationwide ground stop last Thursday the price of Bitcoin has rocketed up nearly 20%. “Is that just a coincidence?” he asked.
While Tucker’s internet fan base appeared to feel the hypothesis is realistic, the crypto community was less enthusiastic. To his 13,500 Twitter followers, FactoryDAO CEO Nick Almond called Tucker’s outlandish theory as “maximum tin foil”:
Almond told proponents of the hypothesis that he doubted the US government would acquire billions of dollars in Bitcoin on the open market to pay the ransoms.
Blockstream CEO and cypherpunk Adam Back also mocked Carlson on Twitter, claiming that the two incidents were precisely what Carlson represented them to be – a coincidence:
Other points expressed on Crypto Twitter opposing the idea included the fact that the US government already has a huge amount of confiscated Bitcoin, that it would buy it OTC if it did buy it, and that because Bitcoin is traceable and transparent, large ransoms are more likely to be paid in Monero.
Stack Hodler informed his 30,000 followers that FTX’s $5 billion asset recovery was a more likely cause for the recovery in crypto markets:
During the first two days of the disruption, more than 1,300 flights were cancelled, with an additional 10,000 planes delayed.
The FAA stated on Jan. 11 that the outage was caused by a “damaged database file” in its Notice to Air Mission (NOTAM) system, which was not triggered by a cyber assault.
According to reports, the problem has been resolved, and most flights have resumed normal operations.
