In a surprising endorsement from America’s intelligence community, CIA Deputy Director Michael Ellis declared Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as “another tool in the toolbox” for US national security interests.
Speaking on Anthony Pompliano’s influential podcast, Ellis articulated a vision where digital assets serve dual purposes—both as weapons against adversaries and as intelligence-gathering mechanisms.
“It’s another area of technological competition where we need to make sure the United States is very well positioned against China and other adversaries,” Ellis explained. This statement signals a dramatic shift in how the US government views cryptocurrency—no longer merely as a financial innovation, but as a geopolitical instrument in America’s strategic arsenal.
Bitcoin: America’s Secret Weapon?
Ellis, who took office in February, emphasized the agency’s two-pronged approach: “We can disrupt our adversaries’ use of it and we can use these technologies to collect more intelligence, gather more information about them.” This dual strategy suggests cryptocurrencies are becoming battlegrounds in modern intelligence warfare.
The CIA official’s comments come as the Trump administration continues its pro-cryptocurrency stance, with the President vowing to make America “the crypto capital of the world.”
Since taking office on January 20, Trump has dismissed lawsuits against several crypto companies and established a strategic Bitcoin reserve, demonstrating unprecedented federal support for the industry.
While acknowledging that “bad actors whether they’re drug cartels or terrorist groups or outlaw regimes use cryptocurrency,” Ellis was quick to contextualize this risk. “They use other tools as well,” he noted, framing cryptocurrency as neither inherently good nor bad, but rather a neutral technology with applications across the moral spectrum.
From Criminal Tool To National Asset
The convergence of national security interests with cryptocurrency adoption represents a watershed moment in digital asset history. As China continues development of its digital yuan and restricts private cryptocurrencies, America’s embrace of Bitcoin could prove decisive in maintaining financial hegemony.
This strategic pivot positions decentralized finance as a cornerstone of Western democratic values—contrasting sharply with Beijing’s centralized approach to digital currencies and financial surveillance.
The U.S. government has become increasingly sophisticated in its cryptocurrency operations, regularly collaborating with blockchain analytics firms to track illegal activities. This expertise has yielded impressive results—America now holds over 198,000 Bitcoin (worth approximately $19.2 billion), more than any other government worldwide. Most of this digital treasure was seized from criminal enterprises.
Ellis’s concluding remark may be his most significant: “Bitcoin is here to stay; cryptocurrency is here to stay… more and more institutions are adopting it and I think that’s a great trend.”
With these words, a top intelligence official has provided definitive confirmation of cryptocurrency’s permanent place in America’s financial and strategic future, effectively ending any speculation about whether digital assets might face existential regulatory threats.