This is my thought too. This plan seemed to begin motion in 2012. Bitcoin skyrocketed in 2012, IIRC. It is rumored to have actually been created by the NSA, it was endorsed by Assange and Wikileaks, it was the primary form of payment on the dark web at the time. Rumored to be totally private transactions (not true) combined with the weapons, drugs, children on the dark web leads me to believe that this is one of the largest honeypots in history.