military

Bitcoin is of ‘national strategic importance’ says US Space Force officer

U.S. Space Force Major Jason Lowery wants the U.S. military to prioritize the investigation of proof-of-work systems like Bitcoin for the country’s defense.

The United States needs to formally investigate using proof-of-work networks such as Bitcoin (BTC) to protect the country from cyber-inflicted warfare, according to Jason Lowery, a member of the United States Space Force.

In a four-page letter to the U.S.

“As a result, this misconception underplays the technology’s broad strategic significance for cybersecurity, and consequently, national security.”

The Defense Innovation Board is an independent advisory board set up to bring the technological innovation and best practices of Silicon Valley to the U.S.

Lowery used the letter to urge the board to advise the Secretary of Defense to investigate the “national strategic importance” of PoW systems like Bitcoin.

In his letter, Lowery explained that a proof-of-work system like Bitcoin could work to deter adversaries from cyberattacks due to the “steep costs” of a physically resource-intensive computer in the same way military assets help to deter military attacks against the country.

“Proof-of-work mirrors the physical security and deterrence strategies utilized in other domains like land, sea, air, and space,” but instead, it does it in the digital domain, Lowery explained.

Kazakhstan ready to legalize crypto as Russians flock to the country

A major bank in Kazakhstan has completed its first purchase of crypto for fiat and the president is ready to approve exchange activities.

Kazakhstan is ready to legalize a mechanism for converting cryptocurrencies to cash if there is demand, said President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, per local news agency Informburo on Sept. 28.

Speaking at the international forum Digital Bridge 2022, Tokayev emphasized that Kazakhstan aims to become an international leader in the field of digital technology, cryptocurrency ecosystem and regulated mining. He noted that the government of Kazakhstan has drafted amendments in national law to pilot a mechanism for converting crypto at the Astana International Financial Centre.

“We are ready to go further. If this financial instrument shows its further relevance and security, it will certainly receive full legal recognition,” Tokayev stated.

The country’s president reportedly visited a joint booth of the major local lender Eurasian Bank and the Intebix crypto exchange at the Digital Bridge 2022 event.

According to local reports, the Eurasian Bank and Intebix announced that they jointly completed the bank’s first regulated crypto purchase for fiat. The precedent has marked a major milestone in Kazakhstan’s crypto adoption, allowing the Kazakh people to legally buy crypto for the national currency tenge.

Other companies in the pilot crypto projects include crypto exchanges like ATAIX as well as Kazakhstan’s largest bank, Halyk Bank and Altyn Bank.

The news comes as thousands of Russians enter Kazakhstan just a week after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization of reservists to fight in Ukraine. On Sept. 21, Halyk Bank suspended the use of Russia’s Mir payment cards amid sanctions warnings by the United States Treasury Department.

​​Kazakhstan is not the only country that has emerged as a popular destination for Russians leaving the country and has been working to boost crypto adoption. Neighboring Georgia has also been moving to introduce new crypto regulations in order to become a global crypto hub.

Related: Russian officials approve use of crypto for cross-border payments

While countries like Georgia and Kazakhstan appear to welcome crypto alongside Russians fleeing mobilization, Europe has been growing increasingly concerned about Russians turning to crypto to access their money. After restricting Russian payments to European crypto wallets to 10,000 euros in April, the European Union now also reportedly plans to ban Russian nationals and entities from holding any assets in EU crypto wallets.

As previously reported, Russia has been largely relying on foreign crypto infrastructure to conduct cryptocurrency operations. The Bank of Russia has repeatedly argued that the country should not legalize any local crypto exchanges.

Exiled Myanmar democratic leaders want to issue CBDC to fund the revolution

The National Unity Government is considering using the country’s frozen reserves as a backing for the digital currency.

Half a year after the military junta in Myanmar revealed its plans to launch a digital currency, the country’s government, ousted in a coup in 2021, voiced its own intention to launch one using frozen national funds. 

In a Tuesday interview with Bloomberg, the Minister of Planning of exiled Myanmar’s National Unity Government, Tin Tun Naing, asked for the “U.S. blessing” to use “virtually” the country’s reserves, frozen by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York since Feb. 2021.

The funds Naing mentions have been frozen on Singaporean, Thai and Japanese accounts and could amount to billions of dollars, according to Bloomberg. While Naing doubts the United States could decide to allocate these assets directly to National Unity Government, he points to the possibility of using them as reserves for backing the digital currency of the alternative central bank in exile. The money is needed to support “revolutionary efforts” in the country.

The National Unity Government consists largely of lawmakers who won the democratic elections in November 2020, only to be ousted by the country’s long-lasting military junta in Feb. 2021. Its previous efforts to gain financial support include the issuance of revolutionary bonds and auctioning the mansions owned by junta leader Min Aung Hlaing.

Related: Reserve Bank of India preparing to trial a CBDC with public sector banks and fintechs

In February 2022, a representative of the junta claimed that the military was planning to issue a digital currency to support payments within Myanmar and “help improve financial activities” in the country. Before the military seized power, the Central Bank of Myanmar had warned that anyone in Myanmar found to have traded digital assets could be imprisoned or fined.

However, in December 2021, the National Unity Government announced that it would recognize Tether (USDT) as an official currency.