Why is the US intelligence agency so obsessed with Bitcoin?

According to Newsweek, experts from various U.S. intelligence and defense departments are studying virtual currencies such as Bitcoin. They are trying to figure out how Bitcoin has successfully undermined the United States' long-term control over the financial network and how it can permanently subvert the global financial system.

Juan Zarate, a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a US foreign policy think tank, and a member of Coinbase's advisory team, told Newsweek that virtual currencies are indeed a new challenge. The virtual currency system runs counter to the current financial system, which has a certain degree of transparency and accountability. The traditional financial system has been precipitated over the past three decades, and its main goal is to combat various types of criminal activities such as terrorism, human trafficking, and money laundering.

FBI hacked into Bitcoin user's computer?

Earlier, some US government agencies hinted that Bitcoin users may be targeted for attack, but the specific reasons are unknown. Zarate’s view just confirms the inference of Bitcoin users (it may be the thief crying thief).

It is reported that the revised Rule 41 law allows the FBI to hack into any computer in the world with a unilateral authorization, and the number is unlimited. This provision has led to the unlimited expansion of the power of relevant agencies, and they use it to dig into people's off-book assets, such as cryptocurrencies, to find tax opportunities. Bitcoiners who use dark networks such as Tor have also expressed concerns about their privacy status.

Bitcoin Core developer Peter Todd said the FBI wants to create a "system with zero privacy and zero security."

Fighting terrorism or virtual currencies?

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is trying to obtain the personal data of millions of Coinbase users, a move some experts believe will help push digital currencies such as Bitcoin into the mainstream. The investigation is based on a "John Doe" subpoena, which has also been approved by a U.S. court.

Zarate said the U.S. government is particularly concerned about terrorists and other hostile elements creating a powerful virtual currency that is untraceable and completely independent of the global banking system.

However, there is no evidence that the enemies of the United States are trying to develop a new virtual currency. In recent years, with the development of relevant technologies, it is absolutely possible for US government agencies to develop a digital currency that is in the interests of the people, but they always choose to take various measures to combat any new virtual currency that may be involved in criminal activities.

Joshua Baron, a cryptographer and mathematician at the American think tank RAND Corporation, believes that the public transaction ledgers of virtual currencies such as Bitcoin are too transparent and can easily attract the attention of terrorists, criminals and hostile elements.