April 25, 2018
Congress should kickstart the response to virtual currencies
Bitcoin and other virtual currencies are no longer just a technological novelty or a speculative bubble. They are affecting U.S. national security. To face their potential threat, Congress should organize an expert task force on virtual currencies and require the executive branch to formulate a national virtual currency strategy.
Recently, the national security implications of virtual currencies have come to the fore. Last month, President Trump prohibited use of the new Venezuelan virtual currency known as “el petro” aimed at evading U.S. sanctions. Then, a report revealed that Russia has advised Caracas on the currency, suggesting a concerted sanctions evasion scheme involving a primary U.S. competitor. During the same week, the city of Atlanta suffered a ransomware attack where the perpetrators took over the city’s computers and demanded a ransom in bitcoin.
These developments point to how concrete the threat of virtual currencies is. Yet, the U.S. government lacks a centralized source of knowledge on the threat or a whole-of-government strategy to counter it. Congress should lead on both.
Read the full article at The Hill
More from CNAS
-
BBC Business Today: China Defends Rare Earth Export Controls amid Tensions with USA
Senior Fellow and Director of the Energy, Economics, and Security Program Emily Kilcrease joined BBC to discuss rare earths minerals and the US-China relationship. One of the ...
By Emily Kilcrease
-
Why the Latest U.S.-China Tech Fight May Be the Biggest Yet
Tensions between the U.S. and China are inflamed yet again — with the tech sector in the crossfire. In the latest move, Beijing has threatened to restrict the trade of rare ea...
By Liza Tobin
-
Export Controls and U.S. Trade Policy: Making Sense of the New Terrain
This article was originally published in Just Security. U.S. export controls are evolving from a narrow national security tool to a broader trade policy instrument, reflectin...
By Geoffrey Gertz & Thomas Krueger
-
Oil Prices Reliant on Chinese Demand
Oil fell for a second session as the market weighed a looming glut and the possibility for an end to the war in Gaza. Rachel Ziemba, adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a ...
By Rachel Ziemba