U.S. military runs Bitcoin node for cybersecurity tests

Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, testified Wednesday to the House Armed Services Committee that the U.S. military operates a node on the Bitcoin network to run cybersecurity experiments and is not mining Bitcoin.

During his testimony, Paparo said: “We have a node on the Bitcoin network right now. 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.”

A Bitcoin node stores and forwards blockchain data, checks transactions against protocol rules and helps enforce consensus across the network. Nodes do not create new Bitcoin. Mining is a separate process that uses specialized hardware and significant energy to add new blocks and earn coins.

Paparo described the activity as part of an experimentation phase focused on technical applications. He called Bitcoin “a tool of cryptography, a blockchain, and a reusable proof-of-work” that the military can use to strengthen network defenses, monitor traffic and test operational techniques to protect communications and infrastructure.

The military’s node is one of tens of thousands of nodes that maintain the Bitcoin blockchain worldwide. That distributed network of operators validates transactions and prevents any single party from controlling transaction confirmation. Defense officials said running a single node does not give the government control over the network.

Officials acknowledged that a government-run node could draw scrutiny from advocates of censorship resistance and decentralization if state participation increased. They framed the current activity as technical testing rather than an attempt to influence the public ledger.

Paparo also connected the work to broader currency policy, noting the GENIUS Act signed last summer that legalizes issuance of dollar-pegged stablecoins. He called the legislation “a great step forward that moves us in that direction” and said supporting the global standing of the U.S. dollar aligns with U.S. military interests.

The department characterized the effort as defensive and technical, aimed at learning how public blockchain protocols can be applied to secure government networks rather than acquiring cryptocurrency assets.