Department of State is Offering Rewards in Bitcoin in Exchange for Information about Hack Attacks
The government of the United States has taken a big step forward with Bitcoin. The Department of State recently announced that it would be paying a $10 million reward in Bitcoin to any person who works with the government intelligence. These days organized hack attacks have left the governments of many countries feeling vulnerable.
In the case of the United States, the government believes that there are entire governments who are behind launching some of the recent cyber-attacks. Only a month ago, a group of notorious hackers took control of the colonial pipeline and shut it down completely. The government officials had no idea how long the hackers have been lurking in the systems. In the end, the US government had to pay a $4.4 million ransom fee to get the pipeline to operate once again.
Department of State has Set up a Secure Dark Web Channel
The government of the United States was heavily criticized for not being prepared to deal with the infamous Colonial pipeline attacks. Even though the intelligence agencies were able to get back some of the ransom amounts, the event still opened up a pandora box for vulnerability. To avoid such incidents in the future, under Justice Program, a dark web Tor channel has been established.
Any person who is willing to cooperate with the United States government as an informant will be rewarded a massive sum of $10 million in Bitcoin offered by Diplomatic Security Services. The Department of State told the media that the channel ensures that transference of information is fast and secure. It is also a great way to make sure that the reward is quickly and securely transferred to the informant.
This is the first time in the history of the world that a government has decided to offer someone compensation or reward in Bitcoin. According to many analysts, it is great news for the crypto market in general. There have been rumors and speculations about how central governments are threatened by the existence of cryptocurrencies and can impose a ban.
Now that the US Department of State is offering a reward in Bitcoin, it means that the government first has to invest $10 million or higher in Bitcoin. On the other hand, it also postulates that the government will not be banning cryptocurrencies any time soon since it has now become a useful tool for the federal government and intelligence agencies.