BTC is of strategic national importance to the US

BTC is of strategic national importance to the US

US Space Force Maj. Jason Lowery wants the US military to prioritize research into proof-of-work systems like Bitcoin to defend the country.

The United States should formally investigate the use of proof-of-work networks such as Bitcoin to protect the country from cyberwarfare, according to Jason Lowery, an officer in the United States Space Force.

In a four-page letter to the US Defense Innovation Board, Lowery explained that while Bitcoin is largely thought of as a monetary system, few people know that it can be used to secure all forms of data, messages or command signals.

The Defense Innovation Board is an independent advisory board established to deliver technological innovation to the US military. Lowery used the letter to urge the committee to advise the defense secretary to investigate the national strategic importance of the PoW system.

In his letter, Lowery explained that a proof-of-work system like Bitcoin could work to deter adversaries from cyberattacks because of the high cost of computers, which require physical resources in the same way that military assets help deter military attacks on a country.

“Proof of work mirrors the physical security and deterrence strategies used in other domains, such as land, sea, air and space, but instead does so in the digital domain,” Lowery explained.

Bitcoin's potential cybersecurity applications are huge, according to Lowery, and could play an important role in maintaining the US's position as a world leader. Lowery says the cryptocurrency also has the potential to spark a cybersecurity revolution.

"Bitcoin turns the global power grid into a large, physically expensive computer or macrochip and uses it to physically restrict malicious actors and protect a wide range of data and messages passing through the Internet," explains US Space Force Major.

Lowery is also a national defense fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and previously proposed a cybersecurity tool on the Bitcoin core layer in March, which he claims is capable of transforming the country's national security.