News Block: A Four-Star Admiral Just Confirmed the U.S. Military Is Running a Bitcoin Node

**Natalie Brunell** (0:01)
Welcome to the Coin Stories News Block, powered exclusively by Ledn. I'm Natalie Brunell, and in about 10 minutes or less, I'll provide you with insightful updates on Bitcoin, financial markets and the global economy. Everything you need to know in one block. Let's go.
Hey everyone, reporting in from Las Vegas, where I'm about to speak at Bitcoin 2026 and co-host the fifth annual Women of Bitcoin Bash. It's already shaping up to be a big week. I'm excited to be speaking on several panels, so make sure you're following the live streams if you can't be here in person. If you're thinking about joining us last minute, tickets are still available. You can use the code HODL, H-O-D-L for a discount. This is going to be a short episode, but I thought the most interesting story of the week came not from Wall Street, but from Washington DC. It came from one of the most senior military leaders in the United States. Let's get right into it.
This past week, 4-star Admiral Samuel Paparo testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee, and he talked about Bitcoin. What he said about Bitcoin is something everyone needs to hear. To give you a sense of who this is, a 4-star Admiral is the Navy equivalent of a 4-star general, and 4-star rank is the highest active duty rank in the US military, and Paparo is not just any 4-star. He commands the US Indo-Pacific Command, the nation's oldest and largest combatant command, which includes roughly 380,000 personnel and spans 36 nations, 14 time zones, and 60 percent of the world's population. In other words, this is a serious person in a very serious role, speaking under oath. Now listen to what he had to say about Bitcoin.

**SPEAKER_3** (1:44)
You think that a strategic Bitcoin reserve helps America compete against China?

**Samuel Paparo** (1:51)
Senator, our research into Bitcoin is as a computer science tool. It's the combination of cryptography, a blockchain, and a proof of work.
Bitcoin shows incredible potential as a computer science tool, that through the proof of work protocols, it actually imposes more cost than just the algorithmic securing of networks and our ability to operate. And Bitcoin is a reality. It is a valuable computer science tool as a power projection. And outside of the economic formulation of it, it has got really important computer science applications for cyber security.

**Natalie Brunell** (2:35)
He went on to describe Bitcoin as a peer-to-peer, zero trust transfer of value. And then it got even more interesting. The very next day, Admiral Paparo confirmed that the US military is running a Bitcoin node and conducting operational tests to secure and protect networks using the Bitcoin protocol. Okay, so that is pretty shocking to hear from a four-star admiral. He is telling Congress on the record that the US military is running a Bitcoin node. And that may be less surprising when you consider who has been advising the commander. Last August, Jason Lowry, a former US Space Force officer and author of Software, was appointed special assistant to the commander of US Indo-Pacific Command. So the man who has spent years arguing that Bitcoin matters so much for US national security is now advising the same four-star admiral, making that case before Congress. It's a huge deal. It's also a reminder that Bitcoin is no longer being taken seriously only by investors and technologists. It's increasingly being taken seriously inside some of the most powerful institutions in the world.
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So here's the key takeaway for listeners to understand. Most people still think of Bitcoin as just an asset, a ticker or a price. But Bitcoin is really two things at once, the asset and the network underneath it. That network is permissionless, trustless, decentralized and always on.
No CEO, no headquarters, no off switch and no one can freeze it or shut it down.
It is the most secure computing network in the world. I still think people under appreciate just how powerful that is. Bitcoin is not just a place to store value, it's a monetary infrastructure built to impose real costs on anyone who tries to attack it. In a world shaped by cyber conflict, sanctions and geopolitical fragmentation, those qualities stop looking theoretical and start looking very strategic. That's exactly what Admiral Paparo was signaling to the Senate. Bitcoin is here, its adoption is growing, and it is not just another investment, it is critical infrastructure and something America needs to lead in. The contrast is hard to ignore. You still have people saying Bitcoin has no real use case, while one of the most senior military leaders in the world is telling the Senate under oath that it has real applications for power projection and cybersecurity. When the most powerful military in the world starts talking about Bitcoin this way, the conversation has fundamentally changed. People should pay very close attention. And I think it's something that the public will only appreciate in hindsight.