US Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth informed the Home Armed Providers Committee on Thursday that Bitcoin tasks contained in the Pentagon are “categorized and ongoing,” positioning the asset as a lever of American energy at a time when rival nations are increasing their crypto footprints.
Hegseth, who disclosed private Bitcoin holdings in his 2025 monetary filings, didn’t maintain again in entrance of the committee.
He acknowledged:
“I’m an extended fanatic of Bitcoin and crypto potential. Quite a lot of the issues we’re doing, enabling it or defeating it, are categorized efforts which are ongoing inside our division, which do present us lots of leverage in lots of totally different eventualities.”
The feedback got here in response to questions on whether or not the US is securing a strategic benefit in know-how.
Army already operating a node
Hegseth’s remarks comply with a separate disclosure final week from Admiral Samuel Paparo Jr., head of US Indo-Pacific Command, who confirmed the navy is operating a dwell Bitcoin node and testing the protocol operationally.
Paparo mentioned:
“We’re not mining Bitcoin. We’re utilizing it to observe.”
Russia and China within the image
The geopolitical backdrop offers the feedback added weight.
Russia now accounts for roughly 16% of world Bitcoin mining hashrate, making it the second-largest mining hub worldwide, in line with an FT evaluation from February.
China, regardless of its 2021 home ban, nonetheless represents almost 12% of world mining by way of underground and offshore operations.
Each international locations are more and more utilizing digital belongings to settle power transactions and soften the blow of US-led monetary sanctions.
Texas Republican Lance Gooden mentioned throughout the listening to that Bitcoin has advanced “from a fringe asset right into a matter of nationwide safety,” pointing to Iran demanding Bitcoin for transit entry, North Korean ransomware exercise, and China’s accumulation methods.
Hegseth echoed that framing, positioning Bitcoin as a counterweight to what he described as China’s digital management mannequin.