{"id":88434,"date":"2026-05-01T12:31:44","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T12:31:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=88434"},"modified":"2026-05-01T12:31:44","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T12:31:44","slug":"bitcoin-gives-us-leverage-against-china-defense-secretary-hegseth-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=88434","title":{"rendered":"Bitcoin Gives US Leverage Against China, Defense Secretary Hegseth Says"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Congress that Bitcoin can serve as a tool of US strategic leverage, linking the asset to classified Pentagon efforts and a broader competition with China. The comments mark one of the clearest public signals yet that parts of the US defense establishment now view BTC not only as a financial network, but as a national security domain.<\/p>\n

The exchange came during an April 30 congressional hearing<\/a>, when Rep. Lance Gooden pressed Hegseth on whether Bitcoin should be treated as an instrument of power projection. Gooden framed the issue through the lens of adversarial use, arguing that BTC has moved from a marginal asset to a strategic concern for Washington.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the past decade, Bitcoin has evolved from a fringe asset into a matter of national security,\u201d Gooden said. \u201cIran has demanded Bitcoin as a toll for transit through the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>. North Korean cyber actors have leveraged it in ransomware campaigns, and China is believed to be stockpiling substantial holdings as part of a strategic reserve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gooden then linked those concerns directly to the Indo-Pacific theater, citing recent testimony from Admiral Samuel Paparo, the commander of US Indo-Pacific Command. He said Paparo had stated that Bitcoin has \u201cdirect implications for power projection\u201d and noted that USINDOPACOM was operating a Bitcoin node in furtherance of that mission.<\/p>\n

Bitcoin Becomes Pentagon Focus<\/h2>\n

That framing put Hegseth in a position to answer a question that would have sounded unusual in a defense hearing only a few years ago: whether Bitcoin is a tool to project power, and whether the department is working to secure a US advantage against China\u2019s \u201cdigital authoritarianism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hegseth\u2019s answer was brief but unusually direct. \u201cI guess my short answer would be yes and yes,\u201d he said. \u201cLong an enthusiast of Bitcoin and crypto potential. And a lot of the things we\u2019re doing, enabling it or defeating it, are classified efforts that are ongoing inside our department, which do provide us a lot of leverage in a lot of different scenarios. I appreciate that. And I share your views.\u201d<\/p>\n

The phrase \u201cenabling it or defeating it\u201d is the key policy signal. Hegseth did not describe BTC simply as an asset to be held, regulated, or monitored. He framed the Defense Department\u2019s work around two operational tracks: using the technology where it creates strategic advantage, and countering it where adversaries use it against US interests.<\/p>\n

The comments also build on Paparo\u2019s earlier testimony<\/a>. On April 21, Paparo told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Bitcoin can be relevant to American \u201cpower projection,\u201d adding that \u201canything that supports all instruments of national power for the United States of America is to the good.\u201d A day later, Gooden\u2019s office said Paparo told the House Armed Services Committee that the US military was using a Bitcoin node<\/a> to help \u201csecure and protect networks.\u201d<\/p>\n

At press time, BTC traded at $77,168.<\/p>\n

\"Bitcoin<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Congress that Bitcoin can serve as a tool of US strategic leverage, linking the asset to classified Pentagon efforts and a broader competition with China. The comments mark one of the clearest public signals yet that parts of the US defense establishment now view BTC not only as a financial […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3,4,5],"class_list":["post-88434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-crypto","tag-doge","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=88434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88434\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=88434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=88434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=88434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}