Nice thread, but I think the OP and others are looking at the situation from the wrong end of the microscope.
My conspiracy theory is that perhaps the Fed is behind crypto-currencies. Think about it. They've expanded the balance sheet by well over $14 Trillion since the housing collapse and have run out of tools to use. They have been relying on *poof* money creation to keep the system afloat. That is unsustainable and there is no "out" to rein in all that liquidity.
Unless one simply created another currency and converted a huge chunk of to that new currency. Well, lookie thar! A new currency with a mysterious origin just *poofs* onto the scene right after a new administration takes over and sees that things are a complete and utter non-fixable mess. So, they maintain the status quo until the new currency gets some good footing, but without outright endorsing it lest it draw attention. "A love fest" was how the congressional hearings were described, wasn't it? Not to mention the strategic value a totally new currency might have in curtailing the growing influence of China - our biggest banker.
Except... this isn't just any currency with a phantom creator. It completely changes the idea of what currency can be, and manifest in that change is the destruction of the Federal Reserve and each and every one of it's employee's roles. It's not plausible that they would be so motivated to pay off the US public debt that they would happily destroy themselves and all the power and spoils that they enjoy.
Fiat is unsustainable and it's becoming obvious even to the average politician. Why wouldn't they transition from something that is doomed to end in poverty and war as it always has, to something if not better then at least different enough to carry them along for another few decades?
I don't personally have any theories about who invented it, the only thing I feel confident about is that it was not any one single person who did it all. It's too complex and the timing and functionality is too perfect. Which means to me that it could be some sort of banking or government project (any of them, not necessarily the US gov). Then again it could just as easily be a group of nerds with a vision, possibly even japanese ones.