No, Elizabeth Warren Didn’t Just Endorse Bitcoin Despite Viral Story

Have you seen a story on social media recently claiming that Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, has endorsed Bitcoin? That would be quite a change, given Warren’s intense skepticism of crypto and her advocacy of more regulation for the industry. But the claim that Warren has made an about-face—even flying a flag a the U.S. Capitol in support of Satoshi Nakamoto—is wildly misleading.

“BREAKING: Elizabeth Warren signs a certificate to honor #Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto with a ceremonial flag flying. ‘Americans are forever grateful,’” Bitcoin Magazine tweeted on Thursday.

The magazine even published photos purporting to show the certificate that heaped praise on the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin. But there’s just one big problem: Anyone can get an official-looking certificate from Warren’s office as part of a federal program that allows members of the public to have an American flag flown in honor of someone. In fact, more than 100,000 flags are flown for people each year.

The U.S. Capitol Flag Program was founded in 1937 to let Americans request that a flag be flown over the Capitol in honor of someone else. People can request that a flag be flown through their senator or member of congress, and Warren’s website even has an online form that people can fill out to make their request—for a fee, of course. Each flag flown is then delivered to the requestor with the information they provided, including the name and the reason they were to be honored.

The flag can also come with a certificate that includes the name of the person and the reason they’re being honored. The certificates appear to include a signature from Warren, though it’s not clear whether the Massachusetts Democrat actually signs each one.

As the photos shared by Bitcoin Magazine on X show, the certificate for Satoshi Nakamoto reads: “For the 15th anniversary of Bitcoin, the first truly inclusive financial system that is providing new economic freedoms to populations previously ignored by both public and private institutions. Americans are forever grateful.”

To make the story even weirder, Bitcoin Magazine claims an organization called PubKey “noticed” that Warren had flown a flag supporting Bitcoin. PubKey is a “Bitcoin bar” in New York that opened in 2022.

PubKey got a copy of the certificate honoring Satoshi Nakamoto from an anonymous donor, according to a Spaces chat on X that was marred with poor audio quality Thursday evening. Members of the chat debated whether an intern may have signed the certificate, insisting that Warren must’ve signed it herself. One participant joked that Warren “never does anything wrong,” and facetiously called her a “great senator,” suggesting she actually signed the certificate knowing full well what she was doing. However, that part is still unclear.

Warren is rather despised in the cryptocurrency community for taking on Bitcoin and various crypto companies. Politico has even gone so far as to call her actions a “crusade against crypto,” which makes her an obvious target for trolling attempts like this. But whatever the motives of the people who ordered a flag for Satoshi Nakamoto through Warren’s office, it would be very interesting to learn if she signed the certificate herself.

Warren’s press office didn’t immediately respond to questions emailed Thursday evening. We’ll update this post if we hear back.