The Bitcoin cryptocurrency was developed by "American intelligence agencies," Natalya Kaspersky, CEO of the InfoWatch group of companies and specialist in cyber security systems, said during her presentation at ITMO University in St. Petersburg.
Kaspersky was giving a speech on information wars and digital sovereignty. Photos of her presentation entitled "Modern technologies – the basis for information and cyber-wars," have been published on social media.
"Bitcoin is a project of American intelligence agencies, which was designed to provide quick funding for US, British and Canadian intelligence activities in different countries. [The technology] is 'privatized,' just like the Internet, GPS and TOR. In fact, it is dollar 2.0. Its rate is controlled by the owners of exchanges," one of the slides read.
She also claimed that Satoshi Nakamoto (the pseudonym used by its founder or founders) is the name for a group of American cryptographers.
READ MORE: Russian Blogosphere "Reveals" True Identity of Bitcoin Founder Satoshi Nakamoto
The presentation also claimed that a smartphone cannot be considered as a personal gadget.
A smartphone "is a remotely controlled device designed for entertainment, work and at the same time for spying on its owner," according to Kaspersky, who is also the co-founder of Kaspersky Lab.