US: Can Bitcoin be taken for a terrorist weapon?

The division, via a program, can provide the military with intelligence so that they may understand how modern technologies could pose threats to national security, including Bitcoin and other virtual currencies, according to International Business Times, cited by the same source.

A memo, detailing some of the CTTSO projects, states that Bitcoin usage may pose a threat for the financial system by increasing the opaqueness, transactional velocity, and overall efficiencies of terrorist attacks, according to Bitcoin Magazine, the source cites.

Moreover, an additional concern relates to the anonymity afforded by Bitcoin transactions. The transactions are public, but the people involved in the operations are unnamed.

Some high-profile cases have highlighted Bitcoin’s vulnerability, including Silk Road which the digital black market shut down in October 2013 by the FBI. Silk Road accepted only Bitcoin for payments. The site’s founder was charged with drug trafficking and money laundering.

A Treasury Department probe found no evidence of Bitcoin being used to finance terrorism, but the anonymous nature of the transactions still has many law enforcement officials worried.

CTTSO is concerned that anonymous networks are a way to successfully traffic drugs, weapons, people and nuclear tech under the radar.