Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of US Indo-Pacific Command, told lawmakers this week that the US military is running a Bitcoin node and is using the network for cybersecurity experiments — not to mine or hold BTC as a treasury asset, but as a live tool for network monitoring, protection and what he described as “power projection” from a computer‑science perspective.
During a House Armed Services Committee hearing on April 22 (an exchange posted by Rep. Lance Gooden’s office), Paparo said INDOPACOM is “in experimentation” and confirmed the command “has a node on the Bitcoin network right now.” He added: “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.” The comments were amplified on social media, including a Bitcoin Magazine clip highlighting the disclosure.
Paparo framed the command’s interest in Bitcoin around technical properties rather than its market value. He emphasized “cryptography, a blockchain, and reusable proof of work” as capabilities that can strengthen network security, calling Bitcoin “a valuable computer science tool as a projection of power.” He repeatedly distinguished this posture from finance: “I think the computer science of it has direct implications for the projection of power, not financial, but from a computer science standpoint, from the securing of networks. And so, I am supportive of those applications.”
He reiterated those themes when questioned about digital property rights and strategic competition, noting that people already use blockchain, proof‑of‑work and cryptography “to protect their own digital property” and that the design has “direct national security implications.” He also voiced support for anything that helps preserve US dollar dominance.
The April 22 disclosure followed similar testimony Paparo gave the day before at INDOPACOM’s FY2027 posture hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, where he described Bitcoin as “a peer‑to‑peer, zero‑trust transfer of value” and again emphasized its cybersecurity and computer‑science applications. Reporting on that session noted the command’s evolving thesis: treat BTC less as a speculative asset and more as a strategic protocol with practical uses for defending networks.
Why it matters: a senior U.S. military commander publicly acknowledging a live Bitcoin node and operational testing signals growing institutional interest in blockchain protocols for defensive and operational technology. The disclosure highlights a shift in how some national security leaders view crypto — not just as an economic instrument, but as a technical architecture that can be leveraged for cybersecurity, resilience and strategic competition.
At press time Bitcoin traded near $77,689.
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