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Controversial Fox News TV host Tucker Carlson has offered a curious conspiracy theory that seeks to link airline delays in the US and Canada to a surge in the price of Bitcoin.
He suggested that the computer outage causing the widespread delays may have been caused by ransomware and speculated that the US government may have purchased a large amount of Bitcoin to pay the ransom.
However, he did not provide any evidence to support his claims.
Speaking on his Fox News Tucker Carlson Tonight segment on Jan. 17, Carlson argued that the price of Bitcoin (BTC) rose 20% and more shortly after the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) United confirmed the disruption on January 11:
Almost all ransoms like this are paid in Bitcoin. So, if the US government purchased huge amounts of Bitcoin in order to pay a ransom, Bitcoin prices would, of course, rise. So the question is did it happen? Well yes, it happened.
Since the nationwide ground shutdown last Thursday, the price of Bitcoin has climbed around 20%. Is it a coincidence? he added.
While the online Tuckers fan base seems to believe the theory is plausible, it has been less well received by the crypto community. Nick Almond, the founder of FactoryDAO described Tuckers’ wild theory as maximum tin foil to his 13,500 Twitter followers:
Maximum tin foil https://t.co/sUYHV0nQOE
— Drnick (@DrNickA) January 17, 2023
Almond replied to proponents of the theory that he strongly doubts the US government will buy billions of Bitcoin on the open market to pay the ransoms.
Blockstream and cypherpunk CEO Adam Back also poked fun at Carlson to his 506,000 Twitter followers by stating that the two events were exactly what Carlson described as a coincidence:
“is it a coincidence?”, yes, it is a coincidence. lol.
— Adam Back (@adam3us) January 17, 2023
Other arguments made against the theory on Crypto Twitter included that the US government already has a large amount of confiscated Bitcoin, that they would buy it over-the-counter if they bought it, and because Bitcoin is traceable and transparent, large ransoms are more likely to be paid in Monero.
Stack Hodler pointed out to its 30,000 followers that FTX’s recovery of $5 billion in assets was a more likely explanation for the rally in the crypto markets:
Morning of January 11: All flights grounded in US due to ‘critical technology failure’
Afternoon of January 11: FTX claims to have recovered more than $5 billion in cash
Tucker Carlson: Did the US government buy Bitcoin for ransom?
Can you imagine… https://t.co/Bng9VfxHHU pic.twitter.com/VzwbSdt3s9
— Stack Hodler (@stackhodler) January 17, 2023
More than 1,300 flights were canceled and another 10,000 flights were delayed in the first two days of the disruption.
Related: Ripple CTO Shuts Down ChatGPTs XRP Conspiracy Theory
The FAA said Jan. 11 that the disruption was caused by a damaged database file in its NOTAM (Notice to Air Mission) system, which it said was not inflicted by a cyberattack.
The issue has reportedly been resolved and most flights have since resumed normal operations.
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