NJ Counterterrorism Chief Warns US Congress: Crypto Is Funding ‘Domestic Extremism’

New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness Director Jared Maples predicted Wednesday that domestic terrorists will increasingly turn to bitcoin.

Speaking during a U.S. House Financial Services Committee monetary policy sub-committee hearing in Washington, Maples said domestic terrorists find value in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies’ security and masked movements. 

“They’re seeing the effectiveness of being able to mask those movements,” Maples said. “As cryptocurrency becomes more prevalent and the technology becomes easier to adapt and use, we do believe we’ll see more of that in the domestic terror realm.”

The hearing focused on how domestic terrorists finance their attacks in general, not specifically with bitcoin.

But three of the five witnesses – Maples, Congressional Research Service finance expert Rena Miller and Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Senior Vice President George Selim – addressed crypto’s role in their written and oral…