Admiral Samuel J. Paparo Jr., Commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, confirmed before the Senate Armed Services Committee that INDOPACOM operates an active Bitcoin node. However, the statement came during the hearing on the defense budget for fiscal year 2027.
For the first time, a sitting U.S. combatant commander has publicly described Bitcoin as a tool of national security. Paparo drew a clear line around the use case. It is not mining, but monitoring and operational research. Specifically, the command uses the Bitcoin protocol to secure its own networks. Moreover, INDOPACOM encompasses roughly 380,000 personnel. As a result, it serves as the primary command for U.S. strategic competition with China in the Asia-Pacific region.
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What Paparo told the Senate
The questions came from Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL). He asked whether U.S. leadership on Bitcoin could strengthen deterrence toward China. Paparo's answer remained technically precise and strategically framed.
"We currently operate a node on the Bitcoin network. We do not mine Bitcoin. We use it for monitoring, and we are conducting a series of operational tests to secure and protect networks using the Bitcoin protocol." - Admiral Samuel J. Paparo Jr., Senate Armed Services Committee, April 21, 2026
The admiral explicitly described Bitcoin as a computer science tool, not a financial asset. In his view, the decisive factor is the combination of cryptography, blockchain, and proof-of-work. Furthermore, he characterized the network as "peer-to-peer value transfer without trust assumptions" with applications in cybersecurity. Proof-of-work requires real computational resources. Therefore, Paparo regarded precisely this property as suitable for raising the real cost to attackers in cyber operations.
Regarding the nature of the tests, he was reserved. Instead of disclosing classified details in the Senate hearing, he offered to provide them in a non-public setting. Meanwhile, the starting date of node operations also remained open. Paparo spoke in the present tense but gave no date.
Strategic context
The statement marks a break from the previous communication line. Earlier public remarks from the U.S. military and government on Bitcoin focused almost exclusively on illicit financing, sanctions evasion, and terrorism financing. By contrast, Paparo framed the network as a defensive asset and an instrument of national power.
The timing is notable. Recently, the monetary think tank of the Chinese Communist Party published research on Bitcoin as a strategic asset. In addition, the Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI) describes this work as a direct response to BPI's own research. Meanwhile, Iran now accepts Bitcoin for transit fees in the Strait of Hormuz. Taiwanese politicians are also discussing Bitcoin as a reserve asset. As a result, the geopolitical relevance of the protocol now extends far beyond Washington.
Conceptually, Paparo picks up a thesis that Major Jason Lowery developed in his 2023 book "Softwar". Specifically, Lowery frames proof-of-work as a form of military power projection in cyberspace, without physical force. When a four-star admiral argues along these lines before the Senate, the debate moves from academic circles into operational doctrine. On the question of national power, Paparo said in effect that anything supporting every instrument of U.S. national power was to the good. However, the admiral did not draw a direct line to Trump's Strategic Bitcoin Reserve during the hearing. Tuberville raised the topic, but Paparo responded only to the technical and military dimension.
Background: the path to a state Bitcoin strategy
On March 6, 2025, Trump signed an executive order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. Bitcoin seized by authorities capitalizes this reserve. Currently, the U.S. government holds roughly 328,372 BTC worth about USD 25 billion. As a result, it is the largest known state holder of Bitcoin. However, congressional authorization of the reserve remains outstanding as of April 2026.
In addition, legislative initiatives are moving forward. Senator Cynthia Lummis introduced the BITCOIN Act. This bill provides for the purchase of one million BTC over five years, financed by reallocating existing federal funds. In March 2026, Senators Bill Cassidy and Lummis followed with the "Mined in America Act". Moreover, this law is intended to strengthen U.S. mining capacity against foreign hardware. Therefore, the legislative direction is clear: more state-sanctioned Bitcoin infrastructure on U.S. soil, and less dependence on third countries.
US military operates a Bitcoin full node
A Bitcoin full node maintains a complete copy of the blockchain. Furthermore, it validates all transactions independently and enforces the protocol rules without relying on an external trust authority. Therefore, INDOPACOM is an active participant in the network, not merely a passive observer. Estimates suggest that between 15,000 and 20,000 publicly reachable nodes exist worldwide. However, the actual number is higher because many operate behind firewalls. As a result, a single state-operated node does not structurally endanger the network's decentralization.
The Bitcoin Policy Institute reads Paparo's statement as a transition from institutional to national Bitcoin adoption. In this context, BPI research director Sam Lyman described Bitcoin as an "asset of undeniable geopolitical significance." Meanwhile, the classified details of the operational tests will remain in the non-public portion of the Senate's work. However, the public confirmation that a combatant command operates a Bitcoin node stands as a documented fact.
