In short
- A US military official said the government is running a Bitcoin initiative to test the use of the internet for cybersecurity.
- Admiral Samuel Paparo said the military sees Bitcoin primarily as a tool to support secure networks.
- He also credited the stablecoin regulations for helping to ensure that the US dollar dominates the world.
A senior military officer told Congress on Wednesday that the US government is currently running a policy on the Bitcoin network, conducting tests related to the security of the network.
“We have information on the Bitcoin network right now,” Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of US forces in the Pacific, told the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday.
“We are not mining Bitcoin,” he continued. “We are using monitoring, and we are doing several tests to secure and protect the network using the Bitcoin protocol.”
The Bitcoin blockchain relies on tens of thousands of point global content, which helps protect and maintain networks. The network of nodes is deliberately distributed, meaning that no one group can control Bitcoin and its verification process. It’s a fundamental skill – one that made cryptocurrency so unique when it was first released in 2009.
If the US government were to run just one of the thousands of Bitcoin custodians, this influence would not threaten the network’s independence. But the American operation of the node may raise eyebrows, considering the “refusal of the opposition” of Bitcoin has been for a long time. recorded as protection from the takeover attempts of powerful countries.
Admiral Paparo said on Wednesday that the US government is in an “experimental” phase when it comes to Bitcoin. But he also emphasized that the US military sees Bitcoin as a valuable technological tool rather than an asset to be protected.
“Our interest in Bitcoin is as a cryptographic, blockchain, and reusable tool proof of employment– as an additional tool to protect the network, but also to generate energy,” he said.
“In terms of my potential military use, my interest in Bitcoin is as a computer science tool,” he added.
Paparo later mentioned that supporting the dominance of the US dollar around the world is a great benefit to the American military. And he realized that GENIUS Actan order signed last summer by President Donald Trump authorizing the issuance of stablecoins—cryptocurrencies pegged to the value of the dollar—”is a huge step forward that moves us forward.”
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