The US Government is already mining Bitcoin, industry insider claims

According to industry insider and government advisor Whit Gibbs, the United States government is already mining Bitcoin.

The claim was erroneously disclosed by Gibbs in a Dec. 1 interview with Anthony Pompliano on the Best Business Show, when the pair were discussing countries that are currently mining BTC.

While most countries have been discreet about their Bitcoin mining activities, El Salvador has not held back in showcasing its own mining activities. Pompliano went on to mention Venezuela as another nation that mines the flag cryptocurrency before proceeding to ask Gibbs what it would take for the US to start mining it.

It was at this point that Gibbs confidently stated that “the United States is already mining…” before realizing himself and belatedly added the word, “maybe.” He added:

They might have 10-20 watts running somewhere in the Midwest to test it out. Maybe. It’s hypothetically speaking.

Although Gibbs kept trying to retract his previous affirmation, his next statement didn’t really help matters.

It is the future financial instrument that many, many things are going to be built on top of. Nations would have to be absolutely out of their mind to not be getting some exposure to the underlying infrastructure which supports it. So, the US I think is on the front foot. We’ve had a lot of conversations with the government in DC [and] state governments to help educate them, but they are very forward-thinking when it comes to supporting this.

He digressed a bit from the subject to add that Bitcoin mining will be a great way for developing nations to catch up with already developed countries. The Compass Mining CEO further suggested that El Salvador’s proactive moves with the digital gold will prove to be a masterstroke over the course of the next 20-30 years.

Pompliano tried to squeeze more information out of Gibbs by inviting him to play a game of story poker as he sensed that Gibbs was ready to spill the beans. He shared details of a US government law enforcement agency that was involved in Bitcoin mining.

According to Pompliano, the agency in question found out how difficult it is to get budgetary approval for Bitcoin purchase, but that by adding more computers to their budget, they could mine their own BTC for use in undercover operations. He claimed that a former agent informed him that this secret mining had been underway as far back as 2013.