Critics noting that “Space Spook” Jason Lowery came out of nowhere to dominate the conversation on Bitcoin Twitter received an unusual rebuttal: a CIA press release. “All of Jason’s engagement on social media is organic,” Director William J. Burns said. “He’s just a bright boy.”

The Bugle’s supporting reporting was airtight: according to experts, the CIA “has never, ever been known to influence social media personalities engagement, or to even meddle with social media in general,” the US government being committed to “peace, prosperity, and somewhat fair speech.” Alex Gladstein, speaking on a Bitcoin Magazine Twitter Space, urged full-throated support: “Jason is like Bitcoin’s version of Captain America. He is representing the power that will defeat dictator Vladamir Putin.”

Bitcoin Twitter was unconvinced. Cowardly nym “Stoney Bitson” announced, “I’m going to buy Jason’s new book and burn it” — a tweet that got his account banned “for the infinite time.” Insiders familiar with the CIA insist there is no current effort to disrupt the Bitcoin community, the agency being “far more concerned with convincing the American people to bankrupt themselves in order to prolong the war in Ukraine.” The second beat of the Softwar rollout, one day after the State Department’s partnership announcement.

irl: William J. Burns really is the CIA director (since 2021); Alex Gladstein is the Human Rights Foundation’s chief strategy officer and a prominent Bitcoin advocate. “Lowery is a psyop/fed” was a genuine running accusation on Bitcoin Twitter after the Space Force major’s Softwar thesis blew up in early 2023 — this piece launders the accusation through the world’s least reassuring denial.