Unusual Theory by Tucker Carlson on the Spike in Bitcoin Price

According to Tucker Carlson, a Fox News host who is often controversial, airline delays in the United States and Canada are linked to Bitcoin's increasing value.

"Tucker Carlson Tonight" claimed that widespread airline delays in the U.S. on 11 January 2023 were connected to Bitcoin's sudden increase of over 20 percent the same day. In his opinion, a ransomware attack may have led to the computer malfunction causing the delays, and the U.S. government may have bought a substantial amount of Bitcoin to pay the ransom. His claims, however, were not backed up by any evidence.

The Airline Delays

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) canceled departures across the U.S. on 11 January 2023, delaying thousands of flights due to a "computer outage.” The transportation agency reported that this occurred due to a technical issue with the Notice to Air Missions System (NOTAM), which provides pilots with information on the potential risks along the flight route.

The agency said:

“Due to our preliminary investigation, we have identified a damaged database file as the cause of the outage. There is no evidence of a cyber-attack at this time."

According to Fox News host Carlson, the FAA notice was issued when BTC began pumping. Furthermore, Canada and the Philippines had experienced similar "outages."

Pumps In Bitcoin's Price

The leading cryptocurrency BTC has experienced a 29% price increase almost three weeks into the new year. Considering the broader macro uncertainty, the pump is all the more unexpected.

On the day that U.S. flights were grounded, BTC gained 4%, closing at $17,930.

Before settling at pre-FTX levels on 14 January, Bitcoin regained $20,000 in the following days. Below is a chart showing a gradual uptrend since 1 January 2023.

Bitcoin's value has grown 22% since the FAA notice, causing sentiment to turn bullish. It has been interpreted as a bullish sign by some.

In his analysis of the flight grounding, Carlson noted that the last time this happened was in response to the 9/11 attacks in 2001, stating that this is “a huge deal.”

In addition, authorities were confused after the grounding, with Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg going on television to say he wasn't sure what caused it.

An explanation for the incident emerged hours later involving the NOTAM system, which Carlson described as unconvincing.

Additionally, Carlson mentioned that the same issue occurred in Canada the next day. He noted that both countries operate flight scheduling software independently, and that's no accident.

The Canadian government stated that the outage of its NOTAM entry system had nothing to do with the U.S. NOTAM failure.

In her email, Vanessa Adams, a spokeswoman for NAV CANADA, Canada's air navigation service provider, stated that the company is still investigating what caused the system lapse. Still, she is not convinced it is linked to the outage of the Federal Aviation Administration.

Jaime Bautista, the Philippine Transport Secretary, said a power outage earlier in the day had caused a loss of communication, radio, radar, and internet.

“Is it possible that someone has hacked into aviation systems worldwide and holds governments hostage until they pay a ransom?”

The crypto community has responded with skepticism and criticism to the theory proposed by Tucker Carlson that links airline delays with the increase in the value of Bitcoin.

The founder of FactoryDAO, Nick Almond, called the theory "maximum tin foil" and expressed doubt that the United States government would purchase billions of dollars in Bitcoin on the open market to pay for ransoms.

On Twitter, Blockstream's CEO, Adam Back, ridiculed the idea, explaining that the two events were coincidences.

Many arguments were presented on Crypto Twitter against the theory, including that the U.S. government already owns a significant amount of Bitcoin. If the government purchased it, it would do so over the counter, and because Bitcoin is transparent and traceable, ransoms of large amounts are more likely to be paid in Monero.

The crypto analyst Stack Hodler suggested that the recovery of $5 billion by FTX was a more plausible explanation for the increase in crypto prices.

After talking to Buttigieg about the issue, U.S. President Biden asked the Department of Transportation to report directly to him when they found out what caused the outage.

As a result of Wednesday's outage, Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell said her committee would look for policy solutions.

“As the Committee prepares for FAA reauthorization legislation, we will be looking into what caused this outage and how redundancy plays a role in preventing future outages,” she said. “The public needs a resilient air transportation system.”

As the FAA struggles to assert its ability to handle repeated airline disruptions and hold the industry responsible, Robert Mann, an airline industry analyst, said Wednesday's chaos is "not a good look" for the agency.

Sources: www.cryptopolitan.com, www.bitcoininsider.org, www.forbesindia.com, www.binance.com, www.nytimes.com, www.politico.com

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The Airline Delays

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) canceled departures across the U.S. on 11 January 2023, delaying thousands of flights due to a "computer outage.” The transportation agency reported that this occurred due to a technical issue with the Notice to Air Missions System (NOTAM), which provides pilots with information on the potential risks along the flight route.

The agency said:

“Due to our preliminary investigation, we have identified a damaged database file as the cause of the outage. There is no evidence of a cyber-attack at this time."

According to Fox News host Carlson, the FAA notice was issued when BTC began pumping. Furthermore, Canada and the Philippines had experienced similar "outages."

Pumps In Bitcoin's Price

The leading cryptocurrency BTC has experienced a 29% price increase almost three weeks into the new year. Considering the broader macro uncertainty, the pump is all the more unexpected.

On the day that U.S. flights were grounded, BTC gained 4%, closing at $17,930.

Before settling at pre-FTX levels on 14 January, Bitcoin regained $20,000 in the following days. Below is a chart showing a gradual uptrend since 1 January 2023.

Bitcoin's value has grown 22% since the FAA notice, causing sentiment to turn bullish. It has been interpreted as a bullish sign by some.

In his analysis of the flight grounding, Carlson noted that the last time this happened was in response to the 9/11 attacks in 2001, stating that this is “a huge deal.”

In addition, authorities were confused after the grounding, with Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg going on television to say he wasn't sure what caused it.

An explanation for the incident emerged hours later involving the NOTAM system, which Carlson described as unconvincing.

Additionally, Carlson mentioned that the same issue occurred in Canada the next day. He noted that both countries operate flight scheduling software independently, and that's no accident.

The Canadian government stated that the outage of its NOTAM entry system had nothing to do with the U.S. NOTAM failure.

In her email, Vanessa Adams, a spokeswoman for NAV CANADA, Canada's air navigation service provider, stated that the company is still investigating what caused the system lapse. Still, she is not convinced it is linked to the outage of the Federal Aviation Administration.

Jaime Bautista, the Philippine Transport Secretary, said a power outage earlier in the day had caused a loss of communication, radio, radar, and internet.

“Is it possible that someone has hacked into aviation systems worldwide and holds governments hostage until they pay a ransom?”

The crypto community has responded with skepticism and criticism to the theory proposed by Tucker Carlson that links airline delays with the increase in the value of Bitcoin.

The founder of FactoryDAO, Nick Almond, called the theory "maximum tin foil" and expressed doubt that the United States government would purchase billions of dollars in Bitcoin on the open market to pay for ransoms.

On Twitter, Blockstream's CEO, Adam Back, ridiculed the idea, explaining that the two events were coincidences.

Many arguments were presented on Crypto Twitter against the theory, including that the U.S. government already owns a significant amount of Bitcoin. If the government purchased it, it would do so over the counter, and because Bitcoin is transparent and traceable, ransoms of large amounts are more likely to be paid in Monero.

The crypto analyst Stack Hodler suggested that the recovery of $5 billion by FTX was a more plausible explanation for the increase in crypto prices.

After talking to Buttigieg about the issue, U.S. President Biden asked the Department of Transportation to report directly to him when they found out what caused the outage.

As a result of Wednesday's outage, Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell said her committee would look for policy solutions.

“As the Committee prepares for FAA reauthorization legislation, we will be looking into what caused this outage and how redundancy plays a role in preventing future outages,” she said. “The public needs a resilient air transportation system.”

As the FAA struggles to assert its ability to handle repeated airline disruptions and hold the industry responsible, Robert Mann, an airline industry analyst, said Wednesday's chaos is "not a good look" for the agency.

Sources: www.cryptopolitan.com, www.bitcoininsider.org, www.forbesindia.com, www.binance.com, www.nytimes.com, www.politico.com

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