Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies Undermine Financial Safeguards of WMD Nonproliferation Regime
Emily Tatton, MS Candidate (Political Science), Fall 2018
The introduction of blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies to the international financial system has the potential to circumvent the critical financial underpinnings of the nuclear nonproliferation regime. By allowing for anonymous, secure transactions without an intermediary, cryptocurrencies can facilitate illicit transactions that are not easily detected by law enforcement or national security organizations. Individuals, organized non-state actors, and state actors all have varying degrees of motivation and capability to manipulate cryptocurrencies to bring about WMD-related proliferation goals. The sobering risks presented to the United States and the entire world by an increase in WMD proliferation mandate immediate and effective measures to mitigate the potential undermining of current proliferation safeguards through these emergent technologies. This report proposes the creation of a new interagency taskforce, the Blockchain Taskforce for Counterproliferation, which would report directly to the Director of National Intelligence and collaborate with the private sector and key international institutions to examine and counter the critical effects of blockchain on nuclear proliferation.
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