An Ex-CIA intelligence official Andrew Bustamante asserted that Blockchain is “super powerful stuff” and poses a threat to America’s national security. He is also the United States Air Force veteran and Fortune 10 corporate advisor. Bustamante’s expertise lies in sharing life-hacks based on his knowledge of espionage. He made this controversial comment in a subreddit thread on December 22, 2018.
This discussion started when Bustamante brought up Blockchain while answering a question in a subreddit thread on Reddit (a news accumulation site). The thread is dedicated to his “Everyday Espionage”, which he likes to call an “integrated education and training platform that teaches international espionage tactics to benefit everyday life.”
What Happened Next?
Bustamante was asked by a Reddit user about his opinion on what represents “the biggest threat to America (sic) national security in the coming years?”. Along with the question, the Redditor also offered a few potential answers such as “Russia”, “climate change”, “Iran” or “North Korea?” Surprisingly, Bustamante replied, “Block-chain technology (sic). No joke. Super powerful stuff, and the first one to figure out how to hack it, manipulate it or bring it down wins.” The CIA official refrained from further expanding on his comments, but acknowledged another user’s response who was seeking clarification in terms to Blockchain versus developments in quantum computing. He answered this question, saying it’s a “fair point!!!”.
His exclamation triggered a discussion on the chances that quantum computing will “forever alter” the cryptographic protection that supports Blockchain. Naturally, therefore, it will explicitly attribute Bustmante’s “bring it down” to a dispute along this vein.
Other users tried to deduce different meanings based on the insufficient data given in Bustamante’s remarks. A Redditor even suggested that his comment could point towards “the persistent possibility of untraceable, anonymous transactions (that) can happen” on Blockchain as a sort of national security threat reported posed by the technology. Another user mentioned the possibility of falsified data – such as hacking the Blockchain with the motivation of disinformation. It will reportedly become more harmful when contained in an unchanging blockchain-based system.
Significantly, the last time Blockchain asserted geopolitical conspiracies and the intelligence community stood as newsworthy was when the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) charged seven officials from Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) with crypto-funded worldwide hacking-related disinformation activities in October.
The DoJ also charged twelve people from two units of the GRU with using crypto – supposedly either mined or acquired by “other means” – to encourage activities to hack into computer networks associated with the Democratic Party, Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and the U.S. elections-related state boards and technology firms.
What’s Happening Now?
The crypto industry is under the government’s surveillance and its institutions as it is posing a significant threat to Banks and the ruling governments.
Bustamante’s predicted this three years ago. So, do not be appalled to see the government against crypto and Blockchain technology as they are a significant threat to its monopoly and power. We are expecting more sudden attacks on the technologies in days to come.
