The U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) on Tuesday banned service members from installing bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining apps on government-furnished mobile devices.
- "Bitcoin/Cryptocurrency Mining Tools" appears on a list of prohibited application types, alongside games, gambling, dating, security bypassing and other unsanctioned categories banned in a USMC memo signed Tuesday.
- While the memo allowed that certain commercial apps "provide new opportunities to improve mission effectiveness," others nonetheless introduce "privacy and security concerns," especially when installed on government phones. It did not provide a specific reason for the bitcoin mining app ban.
- The memo asked service members to heed the U.S. government's warnings when downloading prohibited apps on their personal devices.