Fox News host attributes Bitcoin pump to ransomware hackers

[ad_1]

Fox News host Tucker Carlson speculated that recent bullish moves in the market were due to the US government buying Bitcoin to pay ransomware attackers.

Specifically, Carlson linked the recent grounding of flights by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to a cyberattack, postulating that “almost all ransoms like this are paid in Bitcoin.”

On January 11, the FAA halted nationwide departures, delaying thousands of flights, due to a “computer failure”. According to the transportation agency, this was due to a technical issue with the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system which provides pilots with airspace data, such as details of abnormal conditions. The agency said:

“Our preliminary work traced the failure to a damaged database file. Currently, there is no evidence of a cyberattack.

In support of his theory, the Fox News host said the FAA advisory happened just as BTC started pumping. In addition, similar “blackouts” had occurred in Canada and the Philippines.

Bitcoin Pumps

Nearly three weeks into the new year, the leading cryptocurrency has recorded a 29% growth in price. The pump is all the more surprising given the broader macro uncertainty.

The graph below shows a gradual upward trend since January 1st. However, on the day US flights were grounded, BTC posted a significant 4% rise to close the day at $17,930.

Over the next few days, Bitcoin rose to recover $20,000 on January 14 before stabilizing at pre-FTX price levels.

Source: BTCUSDT on TradingView.com

Since the FAA advisory, Bitcoin has risen 22% in value, with the upward movement causing a bullish reversal in sentiment. Some took this as a bull market signal.

Carlson asks questions

Digging into the grounding of the flight, Carlson said the last time it happened was in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks, adding it was “a huge deal”.

Additionally, the immediate aftermath of the grounding caused confusion from authorities, with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg going on TV saying he didn’t know what caused the groundings.

Hours later, “some kind of story emerged” about the NOTAM system being to blame, which Carlson described as an unconvincing explanation.

“Our system just shut down for no real reason. Is that what you’re telling us? Yes,” explained Pete Buttgieg with a straight face.

Carlson also mentioned that the same problem occurred in Canada the next day. He said the two countries operated their own independent software to route the flights, adding: “What are the chances of that happening?”

A statement from Canadian officials on the matter said that “the Canadian NOTAM entry system has experienced an outage” and that this was unrelated to the earlier US NOTAM failure.

Going further, the Fox News host pointed out that the Philippines also suffered a grounding of flights on New Year’s Day, resulting in the rerouting of thousands of flights.

“Is it possible someone is hacking into aviation systems and holding various governments around the world hostage until they pay a ransom?”

Read our latest market report

[ad_2]