Video of Nirmala Sitharaman Stating Partnership With Quantum Trade Is a Deepfake

Nirmala Sitharaman hasn't announced any partnership between the Central government and 'Quantum Trade'.

Fact-check: An altered video of Nirmala Sitharaman is going viral to claim that she announced a partnership between the government and Quantum Trade.

(Photo: The Quint)

A video showing Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman announcing a partnership between the government of India and a crypto trading platform, Quantum Trade, has gone viral on the internet.

The claim also includes a link to a purported Fox News interview in which Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tesla, Elon Musk, allegedly states that he has launched a new crypto trading platform.

An archive can be seen here.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

(More archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

What is the truth?: This viral video is a deepfake.

• It has been altered to add a Sitharaman's voice about Quantum Trade.

• In the original video, she is seen talking about efforts taken by the government for Tamil Nadu flood relief.

How did we find out the truth?: We performed a reverse image search along with some relevant keywords, leading us to a video of press conference from December 2023.

• The video was shared by the official video of Press Information Bureau (PIB) India, and the title read, "Press Conference by Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Govt. Efforts for Tamil Nadu flood relief".

• The video does not show Sitharaman talking about crypto trading or Quantum Trade.

• In fact, she answers most of the questions in Tamil language.

• The viral video starts at 3:28 timestamp and shows her speaking in Tamil and not English.

• We also could not find this video of Sitharaman's press conference on CNBC's website or social media accounts.

The visuals match but the audio does not.

(Source: Altered by The Quint)

What about the link mentioned in the claim?: The link is a hoax and not Fox News' website.

• We checked Fox News' website but did not find any such interview of Musk where he launches 'Quantum Trade'.

• We did not find any other reports to back this claim either.

• We also checked Musk's social media accounts but found no trace of him mentioning his allegedly new crypto trading platform.

Conclusion: An altered video of Nirmala Sitharaman is going viral to claim that she announced a partnership between the government and Quantum Trade.

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