CIA's Michael Ellis called Bitcoin an intelligence collection tool in 2025 podcast
In brief
- Michael Ellis made the remarks in a May 1, 2025 podcast interview, per Crypto Briefing.
- Bitcoin is "pseudonymous" rather than anonymous, Ellis said, with activity tied to addresses.
- Drug cartels and terrorist organizations are groups whose crypto use can be tracked, Ellis said.
- Bitcoin sits within a wider technology competition with countries such as China, Ellis said.
Pseudonymous, not anonymous
That distinction is the whole point.
On Bitcoin, activity is linked to addresses, not legal names. Ellis's argument, as Crypto Briefing reported it, was that an address can be traced back to a real person and that authorities are working on making that link. He named drug cartels and terrorist organizations as examples of groups whose crypto use can be tracked.
He also said the agency can disrupt its adversaries' use of Bitcoin and use these technologies to gather more intelligence.
“We can disrupt our adversaries’ use of it and we can use these technologies to collect more intelligence.”
Ellis was sworn in as CIA Deputy Director on February 10, 2025, so the podcast came less than three months after he took the job.
How the tracing works
So what does "closing the gap" look like in practice? According to Crypto Briefing, blockchain analytics firms cluster addresses, map the flows between them and flag links to known entities. The outlet said the CIA works with law enforcement to trace illicit payments made with digital assets. It also pointed to a 2021 analysis in which former Acting CIA Director Michael Morell praised tools such as Chainalysis for helping efforts against illicit finance.
That's not a new idea. It's the same basic model that's been used on the blockchain for years (public ledger, pseudonymous addresses, analytics layered on top).
China, adoption and the market read
Ellis didn't frame Bitcoin purely as a surveillance target. He placed it inside a wider technology competition with countries such as China, pointed to growing institutional adoption and said Bitcoin is here to stay.
Crypto Briefing's analysis argued that the CIA framing Bitcoin as a national security tool may lift institutional confidence. That's the outlet's read, not a stated CIA policy. Ellis's own words, as reported, stop at "pseudonymous" and "collect more intelligence," and they don't describe specific operations.
Frequently asked questions
What did the CIA deputy director say about Bitcoin?
In a May 1, 2025 podcast interview reported by Crypto Briefing, CIA Deputy Director Michael Ellis said Bitcoin is not truly anonymous and that US intelligence uses it to collect information on adversaries. He also said the agency can disrupt adversaries' use of Bitcoin.
Why did Ellis call Bitcoin pseudonymous rather than anonymous?
On Bitcoin, activity is linked to addresses rather than legal names. Ellis's point, as Crypto Briefing reported it, was that an address can be linked to a real person and that authorities are working to make that link.
How do blockchain analytics firms trace crypto payments?
According to Crypto Briefing, blockchain analytics firms cluster addresses, map flows between them and flag links to known entities. The outlet said the CIA works with law enforcement to trace illicit payments made with digital assets.
