CIA is involved with BTC, says director of organization

The United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is involved in BTC and cryptocurrencies. And this is not a conspiracy theory, nor a text out of the confines of 4chan.

CIA Director William Burns revealed during the CIO Summit, organized by the Wall Street Journal, that the entity is working on several projects related to cryptoassets.

The disclosure at the conference was made in response to a public question about whether the agency would examine cryptocurrencies in light of repeated ransomware attacks.

Burns responded positively, adding that it was a theme inherited from the agency’s previous management.

“My predecessor started this and launched several different projects focused on cryptocurrencies. He tried to see the second- and third-order consequences of cryptocurrencies as well,” he said.

In addition, the director noted that they are helping other US government agencies. To do this, they are providing robust information about what the CIA is looking at in the field of cryptocurrencies.

Cryptocurrencies and Ransomware Attacks

According to Burns, digital assets can have a big impact on issues surrounding ransomware attacks.

“To discourage these attacks, we have to neutralize the financial networks used by criminal organizations. And this is directly related to cryptocurrencies”, he said.

The statement again fueled comments that the CIA had invented BTC.

As Spencer Schiff, son of anti-BTC broker Peter Schiff, pointed out, even if the CIA had invented BTC it would not change the potential of cryptocurrency.

“If it turns out that the CIA invented BTC, it wouldn’t diminish my bullish attitude. The only thing I would change is my opinion of Satoshi. But Satoshi is not BTC. That connection was severed years ago,” he said.

The CIA’s action integrates different attitudes of the US government towards the cryptocurrency market. The US has already announced various actions against ransonware attacks, including sanctions against whoever pays ransoms for these attacks.