U.S. military runs Bitcoin node, sees crypto as power projection versus China

Admiral Samuel Paparo, head of US Indo-Pacific Command, told two congressional panels this week that the military is running a live Bitcoin node for cybersecurity testing and views the protocol as a tool of national power in competition with China.

What to know:

Adm. Samuel Paparo, head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, told Congress the U.S. military is currently operating a live node on the Bitcoin network.

Paparo said the node is not being used to mine Bitcoin but to monitor activity and run operational tests on securing and protecting networks using the Bitcoin protocol.

The disclosure is notable because Bitcoin is designed to resist control by powerful governments, yet a U.S. combatant command is now directly participating in the peer-to-peer network.