Game Theory at Play? Speculation Grows Over US Military’s Bitcoin Mining Interest

In the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump’s establishment of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR), speculation has emerged regarding potential Department of Defense (DoD) initiatives to engage in cryptocurrency mining.

Is the DoD Entering the Bitcoin Mining Arena? An X Post Sparks the Discussion

On March 17, Michelle Weekley, an executive at cryptocurrency enterprise Byte Federal, ignited a provocative dialogue regarding the U.S. Department of Defense’s potential exploration of bitcoin ( BTC) mining. On Monday Weekley declared, “I think the DoD is going to start mining bitcoin,” accompanying her hypothesis with a series of mysterious and vague visuals.

Weekley’s X post.

Among the disseminated materials was a repost from Michael Saylor, founder of Strategy, featuring his cryptic declaration: “Big things are coming.” Weekley further amplified intrigue by circulating a snapshot from Matthew Pines, Bitcoin Policy Institute’s Executive Director, depicting a nondescript conference space captioned, “The room where it happened.”

She also stoked curiosity by showing a visual from Bitcoin Magazine CEO David Bailey, who interjected with philosophical brevity beneath Michael Saylor’s cryptic “Big things are coming” post: “Embrace the Game Theory.” A subsequent Bailey missive, “When you think the show is over but it’s really just beginning,” added layers of mystery to the digital collage.

Her curated gallery further spotlighted Jason Lowery, a U.S. Space Force officer and aeronautics expert, whose X exchange revealed tantalizing opacity. When queried about a profile photo change, Lowery demurred, “Give it about 3 weeks and it should become more obvious”—a remark harmonizing with Weekley’s hypothesis.

Her conjecture also mirrors Lowery’s treatise in “Softwar: A Novel Theory on Power Projection and the National Strategic Significance of Bitcoin,” which posits that harnessing tangible assets—like energy—to command virtual realms could fortify a nation’s defenses.

Should the DoD venture into bitcoin mining, it would plunge into the proof-of-work (PoW) mechanism, transforming kilowatts into cryptographic fortifications. Such a gambit dovetails with Lowery’s vision of leveraging tangible assets to dominate digital domains, framing blockchain security as a geopolitical chesspiece. By anchoring network integrity through computational heft, the agency might actualize Lowery’s Softwar doctrine.

Published in February 2023, Lowery’s manifesto reimagines Bitcoin not as a mere digital currency network but an electro-cyber shield with profound tactical ramifications. His thesis hinges on the friction between corporeal force (energy, bound by thermodynamics) and ideological dominion (collective belief), interlaced with strategies rooted in game theory principles. Weekley’s speculative thread, meanwhile, ignited several digital pundits, who flooded the thread with conjecture.

The founder of Barefoot Mining, Bob Burnett responded saying, “I’m not saying I like it, but it is inevitable. The Fed will likely do so as well and so will the CIA and NSA. I expect that the latter two already do.” Another person in Weekley’s thread remarked stating, “I think the DoD has been mining bitcoin for years as a national security issue and Softwar and [Jason Lowery] has been the education vehicles to move the Overton Window.”

If the DoD were to embrace the Softwar thesis, it could completely reshape the way cyber warfare is waged. Instead of leaning solely on conventional methods like malware and hacking, nations would engage in a battle of computational power and energy dominance. The tangible costs of proof-of-work would make any attempt to attack or manipulate the system prohibitively expensive, creating a formidable shield for national cybersecurity.

For now, though, the idea remains pure speculation—just theoretical musings without any concrete action. Still, it’s an intriguing concept to consider.

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