Wilma Woo December 20, 2017 5:30 am

Mainstream news network CNBC is under intense scrutiny as evidence emerges its senior staff used connections to plug Bitcoin Cash (BCH).

As Bitcoin prices dropped below $17,000, Bitcoin Cash, also known as BCH or BCASH, suddenly shot up in value on US exchange Coinbase, hitting around $9000.

The average price of 1 BCASH coin across major exchanges is now almost $3500, a rise of 45% in 24 hours.

While the events unfolded, CNBC, which had controversially hosted major BCASH proponent and Bitcoin critic Roger Ver on its TV network, began broadcasting tweets of a highly suspicious nature compared to its usual tone.

The tweets, according to cryptocurrency commentator WhalePanda among others, were compiled under the auspices of marketing and partnership manager Gaby Wasensteiner, whose husband, Paul Wasensteiner, is executive director of the so-called Bitcoin Cash Fund.

The first of the controversial tweets from CNBCs Fast Money official Twitter account reads:

(Roger Ver) aka Bitcoin Jesus joins us tomorrow to discuss the biggest change to the crypto world since time was invented! Must see TV.. (Bitcoin Cash) is here deal with it!!

Critical responses received answers including deal with it and threats to unfollow those who did not agree with CNBCs pro-BCASH perspective.

deal with it

CNBC's Fast Money (@CNBCFastMoney) December 20, 2017

So unusual is the style and lack of neutrality of the news networks tweets that cries of foul play are currently echoing through the cryptocurrency community.

Collusion between the Wasensteiners and Ver himself is an increasingly conspicuous narrative, with users on Reddit noting Paul Wasensteiner is also the founder of a London BCASH meetup.

WhalePanda meanwhile continued voicing his suspicions, arguing it was, in fact, Paul who orchestrated the CNBC tweets.

What Im saying is that her husband is actually tweeting, he clarified.

No, she's posting pretty much all BCash propaganda. What I'm saying is that her husband is actually tweeting from the @CNBCFastMoney account 🙂 with his extremely aggressive BCash tweets.

WhalePanda (@WhalePanda) December 20, 2017

The sudden burst of what is known in the cryptocurrency industry as shilling a concerted yet often covert effort to increase or decrease the reputation of a coin or entity marks a new turn in rival coins ability to manipulate broader market sentiment.

What do you think about CNBCs BCASH tweets? Let us know in the comments below!

Images courtesy of Twitter, Shutterstock

More here:

Evidence Emerges of CNBC Collusion with Roger Ver, BCash