American conservative commentator Tucker Carlson has suggested that Bitcoin’s mysterious creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, may be linked to US intelligence agencies.
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Tucker Carlson suggested that Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, may have ties to U.S. intelligence agencies.
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He called Bitcoin a potential “scam” run by financial elites and said he prefers gold over crypto.
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Carlson’s remarks come as Bitcoin trades around $108,800 amid growing institutional adoption through ETFs.
Speaking at a Turning Point USA event in honor of the late activist Charlie Kirk, Carlson said he believes Bitcoin could be a “scam” orchestrated by financial elites and political insiders.
“I fear that it will become so many other things in our country — a scam of sorts run by a coalition of the financial beneficiaries, like a few people who are getting all the winnings and the politicians they control, who use it to further their control of American society,” he told the audience.
Carlson admitted he has never trusted Bitcoin, calling himself “a gold buyer.” He questioned how investors could put faith in an asset whose creator remains anonymous.
“Nobody can explain to me who Satoshi was — this mysterious guy who apparently died, but nobody knows who he was,” Carlson said.
“I grew up in D.C. primarily in a government family, so CIA, that’s my guess. Can’t prove it, but you’re telling me to invest in something whose founder is mysterious and has billions of dollars of unused Bitcoin. What is that?”
Nakamoto, whose 2008 white paper introduced the concept of decentralized digital money, mined Bitcoin’s first block in January 2009 and disappeared soon after.
More than fifteen years later, their identity remains one of the internet’s greatest mysteries.
According to Arkham Intelligence, wallets attributed to Satoshi hold roughly 1.096 million BTC, worth around $120 billion at current prices.
Carlson’s comments come as Bitcoin trades near $108,800, up slightly on the day but steady over the week.
His skepticism contrasts sharply with the growing institutional embrace of Bitcoin, which is now backed by several US-approved ETFs and major financial firms.
However, Bitcoiners were quick to push back. Marty Bent, founder of media outlet TFTC, said Carlson’s theory misses Bitcoin’s core principle.
“It doesn’t matter if the CIA created Bitcoin. Even if it did (it didn’t), anyone can audit the code to see if it works as intended. That’s all that matters,” Bent wrote on X.