Overview
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers that the Pentagon runs classified Bitcoin projects that give the United States leverage in multiple scenarios.
- He said the department is both using the technology where it helps U.S. goals and working to stop adversary use, describing the tracks as “enabling it or defeating it.”
- Rep. Lance Gooden pressed him on Bitcoin as an instrument of power projection tied to competition with China, citing Iran’s reported transit demands and North Korean ransomware as examples of adversary use.
- Admiral Samuel Paparo previously linked Bitcoin to U.S. power projection and said Indo-Pacific Command operates a live node to support cybersecurity experimentation.
- The remarks build on a 2025 order that created a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve of about 200,000 seized coins, while any broader adoption or market effects hinge on formal Pentagon policy and action in Congress.