Benzinga | Dec 6, 2021 04:42PM EST

Why This CEO Thinks The US Government Is Already Mining Bitcoin

Whit Gibbs, the CEO of U.S.-based Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) mining marketplace Compass Mining, believes the U.S. government may already be mining Bitcoin.

What Happened: In a Dec. 1 episode of Anthony Pompliano's Best Business Show, Gibbs explained how nations around the world have strategically begun embracing Bitcoin.

When asked what it would take for the U.S. to start mining Bitcoin, Gibbs said: "The United States is already mining. Maybe."

"I know they might have 10 or 20 megawatts running somewhere in the Midwest, to test it out maybe," he said.

"It's hypothetically speaking but it's a matter of national security, right, when it comes to Bitcoin mining," added the Compass Mining CEO.

In his view, Bitcoin is the future financial instrument that will eventually have a number of things built on top of it.

"Nations would have to be absolutely out of their mind to not be getting some exposure to the underlying infrastructure that supports it [Bitcoin]. The U.S., I think, is on the front foot," said Gibbs.

"We had a lot of conversations with the government in DC [and] state governments to help them educate them, but they are very forward-thinking when it comes to supporting that."

Several publicly listed Bitcoin mining companies have generated lucrative profits in the last year as the digital asset's price reached new highs. Last month, Marathon Digital Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:MARA) CEO Fred Thiel estimated that Bitcoin's price would have to fall by 80% for the firm to stop making money from its crypto mining operations.

BTC Price Action: At publication Monday afternoon, Bitcoin was trading at $49,206.57, up 0.42% in the last 24 hours.

Photo by Ewan Kennedy on Unsplash