US lawmakers are stepping up efforts to bring Bitcoin mining-equipment manufacturing back to American soil, citing growing national-security concerns about reliance on foreign-made hardware. That debate moved into the military spotlight last week when a four-star admiral framed Bitcoin as part of the United States’ strategic posture.
Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Bitcoin “belongs in the same conversation as U.S. military power.” Prompted by Senator Tommy Tuberville’s observation that China’s top monetary think tank is now treating Bitcoin as a strategic asset, Paparo described Bitcoin as “a reality” — “a peer-to-peer zero-trust transfer of value” — and said any tool that supports U.S. instruments of national power is beneficial.
Beyond its monetary role, Paparo emphasized Bitcoin’s technical architecture — specifically proof-of-work — as an asset for cybersecurity. He argued that the system’s requirement that attackers expend massive resources to compromise the network makes intrusions prohibitively expensive, giving the protocol practical computer-science applications for national defense.
That line of thinking isn’t new. In December 2023, Space Force member Jason Lowery similarly argued that proof-of-work could be repurposed beyond finance to protect data, messages, and command signals from hostile actors. What changed this week is the seniority of the voice making the case.
The hearing ranged broadly over global threats — China’s military expansion, the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and renewed aggression from North Korea — but cybercrime threaded throughout. Lawmakers noted the risk posed by state-backed hacking groups: North Korea’s Lazarus Group has allegedly stolen billions in cryptocurrency over the past decade, with proceeds reportedly funneled into weapons programs.
The U.S. already holds more Bitcoin than any other national government and controls the largest share of the global mining network. Yet that advantage carries a strategic vulnerability: most of the physical machines used to secure the Bitcoin network are manufactured overseas. That dependence on foreign hardware is exactly what has driven congressional interest in reshoring mining-equipment production, with proponents arguing domestic fabrication would reduce supply-chain risk and strengthen national security.
As debates over cryptocurrency regulation and industrial policy continue on Capitol Hill, the intersection of Bitcoin, cybersecurity, and geopolitics is likely to remain a high-profile issue for both lawmakers and military leaders.
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