Altcoins Talks - Cryptocurrency Forum
Learning & News => News related to Crypto => Topic started by: PRIBO247 on December 24, 2018, 09:39:07 PM
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Andrew Bustamante, a former CIA intelligence officer, has
revealed that he has a number of concerns about blockchain
technology and its implications for national security. During a
Q&A session on Reddit, he detailed his thoughts on the
intelligence community and a number of matters relating to
technology.
In one subthread, Bustamante casually remarked on issues
surrounding blockchain technology. When asked what he
thought would become “the biggest threat to [American]
national security in the coming years,” Bustamante replied that
he had concerns about “blockchain technology”:
“No joke. Super powerful stuff, and the first one
to figure out how to hack it, manipulate it or
bring it down wins.”
However, untangling exactly what Bustamante meant by this
statement is not exactly straightforward. Admittedly, Reddit’s /
r/AMA subreddit has a casual atmosphere, but Bustamante’s
claim isn’t entirely without substance. So, what might
Bustamante have meant when he decided that blockchain
technology represents a threat?
Blockchain: Threat or Vulnerability?
Blockchain technology has frequently been described as a
threat to national security due to its capacity to bypass
regulations and its potential uses in terrorism, money
laundering, and crime. In other words, national security
concerns usually arise from the misuse of blockchain
technology by foreign actors.
Bustamante’s statement, however, seems to imply that a
significant failure in blockchain integrity is the problem at
hand. In other words, blockchain technology is a vulnerability
rather than a threat. And indeed, 51% attacks , price
manipulation , and multi-million dollar vulnerabilities have
already been exploited several times over.
But Bustamante’s fear that something could “bring down” the
blockchain suggests a more comprehensive threat. When one
user suggested that quantum computing was in fact the issue,
Bustamante concurred. Quantum computing could potentially
break the encryption schemes that are used to store
cryptocurrency — though it’s anyone’s guess if this is in fact
what Bustamante originally had in mind.
The CIA and the Crypto World
In any case, Q&A sessions on Reddit’s /r/AMA threads are
fast paced and should be taken with a grain of salt. Although
they feature verified participants with relatively high
credentials, those participants do not necessarily provide
definitive insights in every comment. Bustamante’s views
certainly do not represent the views of the CIA itself.
The CIA, perhaps not surprisingly, has been mostly silent on
the topics of the blockchain and cryptocurrency. At most, one
blogger has managed to coax the intelligence organization into
neither confirming nor denying that it has collected information
on Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto.
Former CIA members, on the other hand, are fairly active in the
blockchain sphere. Ex-CIA analyst Yaya Fenusie, for example,
writes regularly on crypto topics. Fenusie has expressed
concerns that cryptocurrency could be used to prop up
authoritarian regimes in Iran, but remains confident that crypto
does not pose a threat in and of itself.
Other ex-CIA members have also moved into the crypto world,
involving themselves with regulatory compliance and
investment platforms. These individuals, additionally, seem to
be more specialized in crypto-adjacent areas than Bustamante
is. Essentially, the CIA — despite its legendary status — has
produced former members with various areas of expertise, just
like any other large employer.
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