Bitcoin has entered the US national security conversation more directly, and more publicly, than before. In Senate testimony highlighted Thursday by the Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI) and several industry observers, Admiral Samuel Paparo, the four-star commander of US Indo-Pacific Command, described BTC as showing “incredible potential” as a tool with cybersecurity and broader strategic applications.
The exchange came during questioning from Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who framed US-China competition as a monetary contest as well as a military one. Tuberville said the Chinese Communist Party’s main monetary think tank had published research on BTC as a strategic asset last year, and he tied that backdrop to President Donald Trump’s move to establish a strategic reserve. He then asked Paparo how leadership in Bitcoin could affect “leverage, resilience, deterrence” for INDOPACOM against China, and whether such a reserve helps the US compete.
Bitcoin Enters The Defense Debate
Paparo’s answer was notable less for any market implication than for the language he used to describe BTC itself. Rather than focusing first on price, reserve composition, or financial policy, he approached it as a technical system with military relevance. “Our research into Bitcoin is as a computer science tool,” Paparo said. “It’s the combination of cryptography, a blockchain, and a proof of work. And Bitcoin shows incredible potential as a computer science tool that through the proof of work protocols, actually imposes more cost than just the algorithmic securing of networks and our ability to operate.”
That formulation matters. Paparo did not present BTC merely as a reserve asset or payment rail, but as a system whose architecture may have value in cybersecurity and power projection. He continued: “Bitcoin is a reality, it is a valuable computer science tool as a power projection. And outside of the economic formulation of it, it has got really important computer science applications for cybersecurity.”
Pressed by Tuberville on what Congress should do to help the US lead in “Bitcoin competition,” Paparo stopped short of offering immediate policy prescriptions in open session. But he did make clear that he sees the technology as strategically relevant. “I have to go deeper on that with you for the record,” he said. “But Bitcoin is a reality. It is a peer-to-peer, zero-trust transfer of value. Anything that supports all instruments of national power for the United States of America is to the good.”
The comments were quickly amplified by the BPI, whose executive team has been pushing the national-security case for BTC in Washington. Managing Director Conner Brown called the moment the point at which “Bitcoin was recognized as a strategic tool on the world stage,” while Galaxy lead researcher Alex Thorn underscored Paparo’s stature, noting that INDOPACOM is the largest geographic combatant command in the US military.
BREAKING: ADM Paparo, 4-star Admiral and Commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, just testified before the Senate that “Bitcoin shows incredible potential” as a tool for U.S. national security. Watch the full exchange: pic.twitter.com/BnhOTEbJEM
— Bitcoin Policy Institute (@bitcoinpolicy) April 21, 2026
Thorn also pointed to an April 17 post from BPI executive director Grant McCarty, who said he had met with Tuberville and praised the senator’s understanding of “the strategic opportunity Bitcoin presents to advance US interests.”
The broader intellectual backdrop is difficult to ignore. Jason Lowery, the former US Space Force official and author of Softwar: A Novel Theory on Power Projection and the National Strategic Significance of Bitcoin, has argued that the proof-of-work system should be understood through a defense and deterrence lens, not just an economic one.
Lowery was appointed Special Assistant to the Commander at INDOPACOM in August 2025, though there’s no evidence which directly shows his role in Paparo’s testimony or the command’s current research. Via X, he just commented “Alea iacta est. 🇺🇸⚡️🦌”.
At press time, BTC traded at $77,926.
Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
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