[DigitalToday reporter Jinju Hong] Chinese-Canadian history commentator Jiang Xueqin has sparked controversy by claiming that bitcoin (BTC) is a project linked to U.S. military institutions.

On March 10 (local time), blockchain outlet BeInCrypto reported that he drew attention in the past for a lecture in which he predicted U.S. President Donald Trump’s political return and a U.S.-Iran war. Based in Beijing as an educator, he is a Yale graduate who has expanded his online influence through the YouTube channel “Prediction History”. As his past remarks predicting the possibility of a war with Iran have been revisited, interest has also focused on his comments.

In an earlier video, Jiang suggested bitcoin may not be a grassroots technology but could be a project connected to the U.S. Department of Defense. He also claimed bitcoin was “designed as the ultimate surveillance technology” and called it “the biggest scam in existence.”

He structures his argument around four main points. First is the anonymity of Satoshi Nakamoto, who created bitcoin. He argues that considering the funding, servers and technical capabilities needed to build a blockchain system, a state-level organisation rather than an individual may have been involved.

Second, he cites precedents of U.S. military research institutions spreading innovative technologies to the private sector. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), for example, laid the foundation for the modern internet through ARPANET.

Third, he points to bitcoin’s open blockchain structure as being suited to tracking transactions. Jiang argued that this feature could be used as a surveillance tool.

Finally, he raised the possibility that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) could use bitcoin as a means of funding covert operations.

However, critics say the claims lack specific evidence. The bitcoin white paper was published in 2008 by a developer using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, and it was designed with the aim of a peer-to-peer electronic cash system that excludes trusted third parties. To date, there is no publicly available material proving a direct link to the U.S. Defense Department or intelligence agencies.

The blockchain’s public ledger is used in criminal investigations and fund-tracking, but that is seen as a separate issue from evidence that bitcoin is a state surveillance project.

Jiang also cited the case of brothers Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss making large-scale investments in bitcoin after a Facebook settlement, claiming that “insiders may have known bitcoin’s true purpose.”

Critics counter that this, too, is only speculation and that aggressive early investment alone cannot prove a state-level conspiracy.

Experts say Jiang’s argument raises interesting questions but is not based on definitive evidence. They say discussion about who benefits from bitcoin’s transparent structure is meaningful, but linking it directly to a U.S. government project is a logical leap.