Sean Spicer Bitcoin Password: He Probably Didn't Tweet Pin, But Silence Spawns Conspiracy Theories

Social media erupted with conspiracy theories Monday when former hacktivist and former Anonymous member Laurelai Bailey claimed a mysterious code White House press secretary Sean Spicer tweeted in January was actually a bitcoin “identity confirmation code.”

She asserted the second code from Spicer’s pair of nonsensical tweets, n9y25ah7, was connected to a bitcoin transaction that same day, Jan. 26. The money transfer was for just $1.13, but the same account allegedly linked with that verification also received around $22,000 in bitcoins on March 3. Was Spicer really broadcasting secret bitcoin transactions?

Spicer has long since deleted both tweets without comment, leaving internet users to speculate whether the text was a verification code from Twitter, the kind users are sent to confirm their identity as part of a two-step authentication system, or a hidden message about the White House official’s cryptocurrency connections. Reddit is buzzing with conspiracy theories. Gizmodo reported some internet users have even argued this second code is connected with a chain of transactions via the first nonsensical code Spicer tweeted, Aqenbpuu, linking it to an account that received $5 billion.

The White House does have some fledgling connections to bitcoin influencers. President Donald Trump met with bitcoin startup CEO Balaji Srinivasan in January and reportedly considered offering him a job at the Food and Drug Administration.

While Reddit and other internet forums are buzzing with Spicer bitcoin conspiracy theories, bitcoin developer Jimmy Song outright rejects any suggestion that the text Spicer tweeted is actually a Bitcoin code.

Read: Bitcoin Price Reaches All-Time High, Continues Upward Trend In 2017

“There is no such thing as an ‘identity confirmation code’ for a bitcoin transaction,” Song wrote on Medium. “The closest thing we have is a transaction ID, which is a 32-byte identifier. ... As this string is very short [only 8 bytes], it can’t possibly be a transaction ID.” Song said the second code does match up with a “brain wallet chain” from a transaction that happened several hours after Spicer’s tweet. Song theorized someone saw Spicer’s tweet and “recorded the string into the bitcoin blockchain.” Since bitcoin operates via an open source community where virtually anyone can anonymously contribute to the blockchain, this appears to be the most likely answer.

It wouldn't be the first time a politician accidently sent out a jumbled tweet. Former New York Rep. Anthony Weiner infamously tweeted a revealing picture of himself in 2011. However, Spicer tweeted two jumbled codes in the same week. It's easier to prove the code was not a bitcoin receipt than to verify what it is without any cooperation from the White House. For now, the true meaning behind Spicer's deleted messages remains a mystery.

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