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The US military is running a Bitcoin node and using the network for cybersecurity-related experiments, according to Admiral Samuel Paparo, the four-star commander of US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM). Paparo said the effort is focused on monitoring and operational testing to secure and protect networks using the Bitcoin protocol, rather than mining or treating Bitcoin as a treasury asset.
Paparo made the comments on April 22 during a House Armed Services Committee hearing, in an exchange published by Rep. Lance Gooden’s office. When asked what authorities and resources INDOPACOM needs to address the national security dimensions of digital assets, Paparo described the current activity in direct terms:
“Presently, we’re in experimentation… Presently, we have a node on the Bitcoin network right now. We’re not mining Bitcoin. We’re using it to monitor, and we’re doing a number of operational tests to secure and protect networks using the Bitcoin protocol.”
He framed Bitcoin through a computer-science lens, describing it as a live tool for network monitoring and protection and repeatedly referring to “power projection” in that context.
Paparo said INDOPACOM’s interest is rooted in “cryptography, a blockchain, and reusable proof of work” as an additional tool to secure networks and project power. He added that he believes the protocol “is here to stay,” and that its computer-science characteristics have “direct implications for the projection of power,” specifically for securing networks.
From a military application standpoint, Paparo said his interest in Bitcoin is “as a computer science tool as a projection of power.”
In the same hearing, Paparo also addressed digital property rights and strategic competition. He said people already use Bitcoin “to protect their own digital property,” pointing to the design elements of proof-of-work, blockchain-based accountability, and cryptography-based security.
He said he sees “direct national security implications” in that design, while also indicating support for anything that helps preserve US dollar dominance.
The disclosure follows prior testimony. The day before, Paparo appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee for INDOPACOM’s FY2027 posture hearing, where he had already laid out a similar thesis: Bitcoin should be understood less as a speculative asset and more as a strategic protocol.
In those earlier remarks, Paparo described Bitcoin as “a valuable computer science tool as a power projection,” and argued that, “outside of the economic formulation of it,” it has “really important computer science applications for cybersecurity.” He also described it as “a peer-to-peer, zero-trust transfer of value,” language that aligns with the framework he used when disclosing the live node and operational testing.
At press time, BTC traded at $77,689.
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