At least a dozen media outlets have cited a Bloomberg contributor saying that NASA was working a quantum cryptocurrency. However, the journalist was referencing the work NSA has been putting into developing encryption that would be resistant to quantum computers, showing just how little research is done in today’s fast-paced news cycle.

Forbes confuses NSA with NASA, causes a stir in crypto media

On Sep. 4, Bloomberg Technology journalist Willian Turton shared insights from Billington CyberSecurity’s 10th annual summit, where industry veterans discussed the current state and upcoming innovations in the world of cybersecurity.

Turton tweeted that Anne Neuberger, the director of NSA’s new Cybersecurity Directorate, said that the agency was working to build quantum-resistant “crypto.” The “crypto” Turton was referring to weren’t cryptocurrencies, but cryptography—the encryption that protects sensitive data such as online transactions, financial records, and email.

Anne Neuberger, Director of NSA’s new Cybersecurity Directorate says that the agency will propose hardware and software standards again. Also notes agency is working to build quantum resistant crypto. pic.twitter.com/IIvjz1aTjO — William Turton (@WilliamTurton) September 4, 2019

Turton’s tweet, however, was so grossly misunderstood that it led to one of the most high-profile business news outlets to deleting an article. Namely, Forbes contributor Naaem Aslam used Turton’s tweet as a source to write an article about NASA’s plan to create a quantum cryptocurrency.

Published on Forbes on Sep. 5, the article not only seems to have confused the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) but also came up with a narrative that it was developing its own digital currency.

Understandably, this caused quite a stir in crypto media, with multiple outlets racing to cover the monumental story.

What’s a quantum cryptocurrency?

While Forbes deleted the article in less than 24 hours, the screengrabbed thumbnail showed that it missed the point of Turton’s tweet by a mile.

Only screenshot I got pic.twitter.com/ucv6PdWoAT — William Turton (@WilliamTurton) September 5, 2019

Unsurprisingly, other crypto news outlets quickly picked up the story but were a little more diligent than Forbes. While most didn’t confuse NASA with the NSA, they too reported on the agency working on a cryptocurrency.

CNN journalist Kevin Collier shared screengrabs of several articles referencing NSA’s alleged digital currency, showing just how it easy it was to generate hype in the crypto space.

Collier pointed out how ridiculous these headlines were, saying the words “quantum” and “cryptocurrency” didn’t make any sense together.

I definitely don't claim to be an expert on cryptocurrency or quantum computing but I think those are just two words slammed together in a way that excites people when they hear two futuristic words they don't understand slammed together. — Kevin Collier (@kevincollier) September 5, 2019

What would quantum cryptocurrency even mean?? I can see how bitcoiners would obviously fear a future where SHA-2 is obsolete but they'd want quantum resistant, right? — Kevin Collier (@kevincollier) September 5, 2019

The crypto community, as expected, used the opportunity to mock the outlets’ poor researching skills, with many pointing the absurdity in such headlines.

Wait? NASA is building a cryptocurrency in space for the NSA? Sweet! — Lawrence Abrams (@LawrenceAbrams) September 5, 2019

The only article I want involving NASA AND cryptocurrency is describing a mission in which everyone who can't tell the difference between cryptography and cryptocurrency is being forcibly sent into the Sun — The Cyber (@r0wdy_) September 5, 2019

The buzz quantum-resistant cryptocurrency generated is a clear example of how the fast-paced environment of online journalism rewards only the most buzz-worthy story.