Bitcoin Community Questions U.S. Military's Understanding of Bitcoin, Admiral Criticized for "Reading Wikipedia"

Gate News message, April 26 — U.S. Navy Admiral Samuel Paparo told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that the U.S. government operates a Bitcoin node, prompting members of the Bitcoin community to question the government's understanding of the network. Paparo described Bitcoin as "a combination of cryptography, blockchain, and proof-of-work—a computer science tool."

Bitcoin educator and advocate Matthew Kratter criticized Paparo's statement, saying the admiral sounded like he was "reading a Wikipedia page" and questioning the depth of understanding from both Paparo and Senator Tommy Tuberville. Kratter stated: "It's actually quite embarrassing. These two people are talking about something they don't understand. When he says it's a way to 'project power' or a 'computer science tool,' he never actually explains what he means." Reporter Lola Leetz of The Rage called Paparo's Senate testimony "nonsense."

Sam Lyman, research director at the Bitcoin Policy Institute, told Cointelegraph that Iran collects oil transit fees in both dollar-pegged stablecoins and Bitcoin, but prefers stablecoins. However, Lyman noted that stablecoins can be frozen at the smart contract level by issuers, whereas Bitcoin cannot be frozen due to its decentralized nature. Lyman said: "This is one of the most important cases for Bitcoin as a strategic asset," adding that Iran wants to use Bitcoin in these transactions because "no one can freeze Bitcoin, and no one can shut down the Bitcoin network."