A US Election Probe Implicated Bitcoin

Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general of the U.S., sparked a social firestorm when he revealed that the dozen Russian military intelligence officers indicted on Friday used bitcoin to fund hacking efforts during the 2016 presidential election.

As CoinDesk reported earlier today, the defendants named in the indictment are accused of gaining access to computer systems utilized by the Democratic Party, including those used by presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, in order to disseminate that information during the election.

Notably, the accused used bitcoin - including funds they mined themselves - to pay for web domains and other services utilized during their alleged scheme.

Unsurprisingly, the news quickly spread through social media, inciting a mix of incredulity, suspicion and - in some cases - amusement from observers.

Today's indictment was the latest to be handed down, following actions against others including Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign manager.

The news sparked a multitude of responses, from the dismissive to the downright hostile.

Another interpretation: that today's indictment was intended to influence an upcoming meeting between Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Some commentators took the news as a clear sign that the U.S. government is serious about using the public network characteristics of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin to trace transactions.

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