What is a conspiracy theory? A crazy wacky fringe movement? An alternate way of thinking? Something different from mainstream news? Or a dystopian look at a tangible future reality?
Bitcoin Signals the End Times
- This theory revolves around the Bible book Revelations chapter 13 “16 It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17 so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.”
While Bitcoin does represent a shift to a cashless society, it’s highly unlikely that we are going to have tattoos of Bitcoin QR codes on our foreheads… anytime soon.
China Invented Bitcoin
- The theory claims that China is the original developer of Bitcoin. While the concept does seem far-fetched, China housed the largest number of BTC miners in the world. They were also home to the largest BTC mining rig manufacturer in the world, Bitmain.
Recent regulations by China outlawing all mining and now even blocking access to exchanges and references to cryptocurrencies outside of it’s borders have probably put an end to this theory… for now.
The Single World Currency
- The banks Goldman Sachs, ING and the Rothschild family are strengthening their ties to cryptocurrency businesses and creating a mysterious new IMMO cryptocurrency linked to “the price of gold or other limited natural resources” and used to “maintain control over the market of cryptocurrency”.
The dark fantasies of a global cartel attempting to take over the world’s financial systems. The baseless conspiracies swirling around IMMO seem to have been an effort to suture toxic fictions onto the anti-authoritarian idealism behind bitcoin. Vitalik Buterin, creator of Ethereum tried to tamp down the hysteria, writing on Reddit that “they are just people born into various old-money-type high society positions, and the theories that they are anything beyond that are fairly baseless.”
NSA behind the Algorithm
- This is a claim that the National Security Agency invented the SHA-256 algorithm. SHA-256 is the mathematical protocol that Bitcoins’s Proof-of-Work system functions within.
This theory does not hold up well when you consider that SHA-256 is an open algorithm that the best cryptographers in the world have examined for over fifteen years without discovering flaws.
Satoshi Nakamoto is A.I.
- Bitcoin contains 31 thousand lines of coding. Professional coders will tell you that this is not a large amount. To put the size of the Bitcoin protocol into perspective, Windows has 50 million lines of code. Still, the quality of the coding and impact of the technology has led a small group to believe Artificial Intelligence developed BTC.
Discussions regarding the probability of this theory are plentiful. To date, no hard evidence has surfaced, and it’s hard to imagine that someone could program an AI so advanced. However, it may continue to exist until Satoshi Nakamoto comes forward, if he/she/they/it ever does.
21e8
- On Wednesday, June 20, 2018, a new block was mined on the Bitcoin blockchain. It was a typical block, except that its hash was 00000000000000000021e800c1e8df51b22c1588e5a624bea17e9faa34b2dc4a It caused a massive uproar among the community, with Twitter and Reddit awash with speculations concerning the origins and meaning of the number.
Firstly, The number of zeros at the beginning of the block hash was similar to the ones in the block hash of the Genesis Block, or the first block of Bitcoin ever mined and it was speculated that it is highly improbable for the hash to be generated at random. Secondly, the number that came after the first zeros was 21e8. This number is an important one in physics because it refers to the E8 Theory, which is an attempt to describe all known fundamental interactions in physics and to stand as a possible theory of everything. Possible explanations for the event ranged from a simple chance to A.I. or Nakamoto’s resurgence and even time travel.
Bilderberg Bitcoin
- This conspiracy claims that members of the Bilderberg group, the Federal Reserve, and Mastercard conspired in 2018 to take over the Bitcoin market through the use its subsidiary, AXA strategic ventures, who invested $55 million into Blockstream.
Blockstream is one of the primary funders of the Bitcoin core development team, and the Bilderberg Group contains some of the world’s wealthiest people. This strategy of investing heavily into BTC’s development could give significant control to a centralized body. It is claimed they have taken over Bitcoin, crippled it, to turn it into a currency system that they control & profit from. Further supporting the idea that small but extremely wealthy groups are owning more and more Bitcoin, accumulating wealth and manipulating the markets. Whale watchers take note.
Governments Are Buying up All the Bitcoin
- This theory doesn’t take much to imagine. According to believers of this theory, governments around the world are secretly buying up all of the Bitcoin in the world.
While it may be difficult to prove precisely how much Bitcoin governments own, there has been an uptick in crypto confiscations. These confiscations have led to some serious funding boosts for the countries involved. There is a long list of countries but special attention is often paid to Bulgaria which isn’t officially storing Bitcoin but has made millions from selling confiscated coins.
A Single Trader Crashed Mt. Gox
- Evidence presented by BitcoinMarkets on Reddit seems to link the Mt. Gox collapse in 2018 to the movements of one trader. Mt. Gox was the largest crypto exchange in the world until it collapsed in February 2014 due to multiple hacks. The exchange’s collapse caused the entire BTC market to tank for months.
According to this newly found evidence, on December 22 2017, a trustee moved 6,000 BTC which caused the value of the coin to drop from $16,000 to $10,000 briefly. The same seller dumped another 6,000 BTC on January 31 and yet another 6,000 BTC on February 5. This case makes it the fourth time for Mt.Gox to directly or indirectly crash the bitcoin price. First time was hack in 2011, then a DDos in 2013, 2014 is when they went bankrupt and now this sell off.
U.S. Government Regulating cryptocurrency away
- Crypto haters in the government are pursuing a one-two punch: first, use the new US tax bill to cripple proof of stake and DeFi projects with compliance costs; second, come after Bitcoin using environmental regulations.
Not so much a theory as a discernible concern at this stage. There's a good chance the White House and its allies are conspiring against the crypto industry. It's easy to suggest it's because our political leaders are old or stupid or anti-technology, but there is probably something else at work: Crypto threatens the government’s control of the currency, and messing with the money supply will always lead to serious repercussions.
. . .
When conspiracy theories are telling you where to look, they are often also telling you were not to look.
So in conclusion, there are clearly some ridiculous and hilarious theories circulating which are nothing more than funny stories. Then there are the clearly harmful and damaging theories, whose sole purpose seems to be to muddy the waters and stir up hatred and anger towards particular groups. However, there are also some reports that are compelling and if proven correct may cause a serious setback to cryptocurrencies.
Take care and think carefully before choosing to believe any of these stories.
Sources:
https://slate.com/technology/2018/08/the-lurking-threat-of-anti-semitism-in-cryptocurrency.html
https://blockstream.com/2016/02/02/en-blockstream-new-investors-55-million-series-a/
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