Ex-CIA Officer Considers Blockchain As The Biggest Threat To National Security

Major industry sectors are implementing an emerging technology of blockchain, which has both many positives and many negatives. Recently, a former CIA intelligence officer, Andrew Bustamante unveiled his concerns about the technology and its possible effects, especially on the national security.

In a Q&A session on Reddit, One Redditor had asked Bustamante, what would be “the biggest threat to America national security in the coming years?” He detailed his answer on the intelligence community and a number of matters relating to technology.

He answered, “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.”

Bustamante did not go deeper into his comment, but he acknowledged a Redditor’s response to his answer. It asked him for the clarification on blockchain versus developments in quantum computing. Here, ex- CIA officer responded with “fair point!!!” Bustamante’s response struck a discussion of the possibility that quantum computing will “forever alter” the cryptographic protection that underpins blockchain.

Bustamante’s views do not describe the perspective of the CIA itself on blockchain technology. However, CIA has not declared any stand regarding crypto assets or blockchain. Some of the former CIA members are noticeably active in the blockchain field. For instance, Ex-CIA analyst Yaya Fenusie writes regularly on crypto topics. Fenusie also revealed concerns that cryptocurrency could be used to prop up authoritarian regimes in Iran but believes that crypto does not pose a threat in and of itself.

Surprisingly, other ex-CIA members have involved in regulatory compliance and investment platforms.

The current position of blockchain in the market is pretty challenging, looking at the collapse of ICOs and falling prices of cryptocurrencies. A report found out that in U.K, at least 340 companies claiming to be involved with crypto or blockchain were shut down this year. The data indicates that over 200 of those firms were established during 2017. Notably, 60 percent of them shut down between June and November 2018 alone.

Nonetheless, the number of new registrations of blockchain companies continued to increase throughout the year, which hints that the market continued to expand overall.