Cryptocurrency has made an unwelcome appearance in a new coronavirus conspiracy theory, which has it that the protective lockdowns are in fact a measure being taken by the British government in order to force a new cryptocurrency on its citizens. The insane idea, seen spouted by a conspiracy theorist at a protest outside the UK parliament, breaks new ground both in the scope of covid 19 theories and greatly overestimates the government’s abilities in the field of blockchain technology.
My god, this 5G-coronavirus conspiracy stuff is mental. pic.twitter.com/Ya4aoSQXhi
— Mike Galsworthy (@mikegalsworthy) May 3, 2020
“New Kind of Economy”
The astounding new theory was posted on Twitter as part of a montage of individuals protesting against the government lockdowns, with many focusing on the popular but heavily debunked theory that the installation of 5G towers across the country has contributed to the spread of the disease.
Some have gone further, suggesting that it’s not just a conscious, intentional spreading of a disease but it’s part of a bigger dastardly plan:
I think they want to take over and control us with technology. I think they want to bring in a new kind of economy which is based on technological control. A new cryptocurrency. And I think they want to do it through medical tyranny.
Baseless and Doomed to Failure
Why cryptocurrency has to be dragged into this mess we don’t know, but seeing as it has been, let’s look at the facts. The British government is so far behind on blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies that they thought people were still mining Bitcoin at home by December 2018, when they finally released proper tax guidance.
The suggestion that the government is forcing people to stay indoors in order to foist a new cryptocurrency on them is both ludicrous and pointless – the British government is not about to scrap the physical pound and replace it with a cryptocurrency, and even if they did, why would they need people at home to do it?
Ignoring the physical implications for British retailers, companies, and banks around the world having to suddenly deal with not just a whole new currency but a new technology to back it up, how do these people think the legal challenges to such a plan would be overcome? Britain is not Venezuela – it has laws to which the government must adhere as well as people.
Six Weeks of Lockdown + Furtive Imagination = Insanity
The suggestion that Britain is even remotely ready for such a radical change is more than laughable, and such a crock of bull just goes to show what six weeks of lockdown and a furtive imagination, without anything so burdensome as evidence, can dream up.
Sovereign stablecoins will be here one day, but that day is not tomorrow. Cryptocurrency has been blamed for many things in the past, but the suggestion that governments are using the coronavirus to force cryptocurrency on citizens as part of a “new economy” is both laughable, counterproductive, and utterly baseless.
