Quote from: gogxmagog on May 04, 2013, 03:12:27 AM

& the CIA's jurisdiction is outside the USA. If anything, they would benefit from BTC because they can do all manner of covert payola ops to foreign bad guys and the like

This.
and you don't need to create an entirely new system of ASIC hardware that would stick out like a sore thumb.

much easier and cheaper for covert agencies, hack people, hack the trust system.

i.e. let's talk destabilisation conspiracies.

step 1, create a screen and cover identity for one group, the hook, and the bait.
all you need to do is set up a large pool and invite people in, as to create a poisoned network node for confirming a larger pool, this needs to be "super secure" and well respected. think p2pool. this would be the security bait.

step 2, destabilise the other large pools and select a nominal target, so you can create a monopoly from the rubble, a big fish.

step 3, find an insecure server that hosts a large 40% pool, set up a tap/backdoor on the machine(s), insert your double-spend or false transaction record binary instructions into custom compiled pool daemon's and regular people will do the hard work of hiding data in the network.

step 4, establish trust in the big system and the little system at the same time, so that a general public will believe in following/propping up the big fish, while detail oriented people will move towards the security bait which has the hook.

step 5, you can keep the big fish away from the hook for as long as you need the system to work to do what you want it to.
after which, you can remove either the fish or the hook, and the system won't notice the loss. remove both, and tampering becomes more obvious.

The reality of doing this would be difficult to hide due to crypto being rooted within the protocol itself, it's the confirmations, or lack of, that matter in this kind of setup. The best analogy would be FOX news. you don't need to create or mock up news from scratch to insert a message, all you need to do is modify the content a little bit and then repeat the process, the other networks will propagate the false news as if it were accurate, forcing others to also confirm the "new" news.