--- title: "Tucker Carlson Says the CIA Created Bitcoin" description: "Crowd Pleaser Disgraced ex-Fox News host Tucker Carlson apparently believes that Bitcoin is a creation of the Central Intelligence Agency — but he's a stan nonetheless. As Decrypt reports, the now-independent talking head told attendees of a private Trump-supporting event surrounding the Bitcoin 2024 conference this past week that it was \"obvious\" that the CIA created […]" date: "2024-08-03" modified: "2024-08-03" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/tucker-carlson-cia-bitcoin" categories: - "Bitcoin" - "Blockchain" - "Cryptocurrency" - "Future Society" tags: - "bitcoin" - "cia" - "the digest" - "tucker carlson" --- # Tucker Carlson Says the CIA Created Bitcoin ![Default Futurism featured image]() ## Crowd Pleaser Disgraced [ex-*Fox News* host Tucker Carlson]() apparently believes that Bitcoin is a creation of the Central Intelligence Agency — but he's a stan nonetheless, for some reason. As [*Decrypt* reports](), the now-independent talking head told [attendees of a private Trump-supporting event]() surrounding the Bitcoin 2024 conference this past week that it was "obvious" that the CIA created the titular cryptocurrency. "Obviously it was the CIA, we all know that," Carlson told the Nashville crowd, chuckling. "It’s like Signal, they got there first. It’s a honeytrap!" While the intelligence community [does indeed have documented connections]() to the founding of Signal, the popular encrypted messaging app championed by both [Elon Musk]() and [Edward Snowden](), the same can't be said of Bitcoin. It appears that in conflating the two, Carlson is suggesting that [government interest in coopting ]()burgeoning tech is the same thing as creating that tech. https://www.twitter.com/jakeshieldsajj/status/1818551862637084954 ## Who Is She? Adding fuel to the [longstanding conspiratorial claim]() is the fact that nobody actually knows the identity of Bitcoin's purported founder Satoshi Nakamoto, though over the years various [people have taken credit]() and [offered half-baked theories](). "Crypto people aren't just in it to make a buck, they're in it to change the world," Carlson equivocated. "These are not shallow people. These are people who can answer every single question except for 'who was Satoshi?' Someone should answer that!" Ultimately, the ex*-Fox* host said that it doesn't matter to him if the feds were behind the world's most valuable and well-known cryptocurrency. "I don't care if it was the CIA," he said. "It doesn't matter. The idea is still a great idea." It's far from the [worst thing Carlson has ever been recorded saying](), but it's nevertheless a goofy reminder that these are the kinds of people who have been considered kingmakers in conservative circles — and this is certainly not the [most outlandish thing he believes](), either. **More on Bitcoin:** [*That Guy Who Kept Insisting He Was Satoshi Nakamoto Just Admitted He Was Lying*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()