For The U.S., Bitcoin Is A National Security Opportunity, Not A Threat

This is an sentiment editorial by Matt Smith, an operations serviceman for the United States Air Force and an assistant prof of aerospace studies astatine the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

As the country’s astir adversarial competitors actively prosecute ways to de-dollarize the world portion simultaneously publicly announcing, “the system of imaginary wealthiness is being inevitably replaced by the system of existent valuables and hard assets,” the contention for bitcoin accumulation, the hardest and scarcest plus successful the world, is not excessively acold disconnected successful the not truthful distant future.

Countries volition not prohibition Bitcoin. Instead, eventually, they volition aggressively vie for it and those with larger fractions of 21 cardinal volition person greater strategical and economical primacy than their geopolitical competitors.

With that being said, the National Security Strategy (NSS) is simply a periodic papers designed to pass the imaginativeness of the enforcement subdivision and service arsenic the roadmap for U.S. that helps Congress transportation retired the directions laid retired by the highest bureau successful the land. The October 2022 NSS outlines however the White House “will prehend this decisive decennary to beforehand America’s captious interests, presumption the United States to outmaneuver geopolitical competitors, tackle shared challenges, and acceptable our satellite firmly connected a way toward a brighter and much hopeful tomorrow.”

These almighty words not lone animate anticipation and committedness of a amended aboriginal for the American radical arsenic the U.S. strives to proceed to beryllium the champion of state and ideology connected the satellite stage, but they besides admit that if determination are immoderate missteps successful the nation’s strategical interests, that mightiness bring further acheronian to a state desperately seeking airy or, adjacent worse, outgo the federation to suffer a grip connected its planetary influence. It is imperative that the U.S. genuinely weighs each disposable options successful bid to unafraid the champion outcomes that beforehand American values and support the American mode of life.

Digital Currency Can No Longer Be Ignored

Part of the astir caller NSS, nether the “Trade And Economics” section, states, “[the U.S.] volition research the merits and responsibly pb improvement of integer assets, including a digital dollar, with precocious standards and protections for stability, privacy, and information to payment a beardown and inclusive U.S. fiscal strategy and reenforce its planetary primacy.”

Despite being labeled “magic net money” and “rat poison” implicit the past decade, the emergence of Bitcoin secured its credibility and since then, has gradually made its mode into committees and boardrooms consisting of members holding the highest positions of influence. It tin nary longer beryllium ignored. The aforementioned excerpt of the NSS provides important penetration into the enforcement branch’s existent presumption of the increasing value of processing integer assets similar Bitcoin.

One operator for this increasing involvement into integer assets is undoubtedly the U.S. nationalist debt, arsenic the federation presently runs a $31 trillion shortage with nary motion of slowing down. Senator Rand Paul precocious acknowledged that “the top nationalist information hazard is our debt” aft the merchandise of a single, $1.7 trillion (or astir 95 cardinal bitcoin, successful today’s value) spending package. The upland of nationalist indebtedness is surely a origin of concern.

There are lone 2 ways a shortage of that magnitude tin ever beryllium paid: either by default done a monetary reset oregon inflation. Because of the unsurmountable level of debt, determination is simply a increasing request for innovation to assistance lick this dilemma. The way to a integer dollar is astir inevitable, arsenic the epoch of 0% wealth rapidly approaches its expiration day and forces the modulation into a caller monetary strategy that volition beryllium birthed into beingness — a monumental displacement of which the satellite has not experienced since the likes of the Nixon Shock successful 1971. In 1971, alternatively of defaulting connected its fiscal obligations, the U.S. changed the economical argumentation entirely, ended the Bretton Woods epoch and removed golden from being tied to the U.S. dollar.

If past is immoderate aboriginal indicator of what volition hap astatine the extremity of the adjacent fiscal cycle, the U.S. volition apt research an alternate economical argumentation arsenic alluded to successful the NSS, but this clip volition present a cardinal slope integer currency (CBDC), oregon a integer dollar, to debar defaulting connected its existent indebtedness which, ironically, is simply a signifier of default.

The U.S. Can Adopt Bitcoin

However, determination whitethorn not beryllium a request for the U.S. to invent a home integer dollar arsenic Bitcoin fits the criteria that the NSS details. Bitcoin is the hardest signifier of wealth and provides the highest standards of extortion to individuals. It is the astir stable integer plus arsenic it continues to merchandise a caller artifact each 10 minutes, and is the astir inclusive monetary protocol arsenic it allows not conscionable individuals with societal information numbers and 2 forms of government-issued IDs to entree its benefits, but its open-source protocol grants extortion and services to everyone including the 1.4 cardinal unbanked radical crossed the world portion the Lightning Network promotes businesslike transactions, arguably the astir important magnitude of a globalized economy.

As much individuals, companies, banks and countries are forced by the marketplace to wage retired loans successful bitcoin alternatively of notes, holders of the largest bitcoin stacks volition people summation much influence. Its built-in deflationary quality and implicit scarcity features ensures that 100% of the enactment and worth created by radical is enjoyed and ne'er diminished done monetary debasement. Lastly, Bitcoin’s tremendous defence strategy discourages atrocious actors arsenic the cost of attack has go excessively large and frankincense forces peaceful and mutually beneficial agreements.

In each sense, the Bitcoin protocol perfectly aligns with the halfway values of the United States and its nationalist information strategy. Contrary to what immoderate elder officials claim, Bitcoin does not make a nationalist information risk. Instead, ignoring the Bitcoin web would importantly impede the U.S.’s quality to wage its nationalist debt, “outmaneuver [its] geopolitical competitors” and weaken the country’s economical instrumentality of power, which aims to leverage the country’s wealthiness to power the behaviors of others. Thus, further delaying Bitcoin adoption is the nationalist information risk.

This is simply a impermanent station by Matt Smith. Opinions expressed are wholly their ain and bash not needfully bespeak those of BTC Inc oregon Bitcoin Magazine, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the Department of Defense oregon the United States Air Force.