CIA Director Says CIA Currently Has "A Few Different Programs" Focused on Cryptocurrencies

William Burns, the current director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), said his predecessor at the government agency initiated a project focused on gathering intelligence on cryptocurrencies.

Responding to a question about cryptocurrencies at the Wall Street Journal CEO Council Summit on Monday, Burns said the CIA hopes to add cryptocurrency and blockchain expertise to its team of intelligence analysts, in addition to communicating with industry experts. Given what he's already seen in ransomware attacks, challenges from the cryptocurrency space "could have a huge impact on the United States," he said.

"My predecessors had already started doing that," Burns said, likely referring to the actions of former acting CIA director David Cohen. "[They] have started a number of different projects focused on cryptocurrencies and trying to look at the second and third order consequences and help our colleagues in other parts of the U.S. government provide solid intelligence on what we're seeing."

He added that building this kind of knowledge about cryptocurrencies is an "important priority" for the agency, to which he plans to devote "resources and attention." The CIA director did not mention the specific direction the agency plans to take in combating cyberattacks, but suggested that it is targeting "access to financial networks" for criminal groups that use digital currencies in exchange for ransom.

Burns, who took on the directorship in March, saw hackers demand millions in cryptocurrency in a May attack on Colonial Pipeline systems, but a U.S. government task force also responded, recovering most of the Lost funds. Michael Morrell, the former acting CIA director from 2012 to 2013, said that "blockchain analysis is a very effective tool for fighting crime and gathering intelligence" that law enforcement agencies are not taking full advantage of.

The CIA director does not have a fixed term, meaning Burns could serve at the agency under U.S. President Joe Biden. At the time of publication of this report, Biden had not yet announced his pick to fill the three vacant seats on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.