CIA looking into UK’s reported backdoor request to Apple encryption
The CIA, NSA and multiple other US intelligence agencies have been asked to examine a reported request from the UK government for Apple to implement a backdoor in their encryption.
Tulsi Gabbard, the US director of national intelligence (DNI), announced the measures in a letter to two US politicians who had raised concerns about the move.
Apple last week withdrew some of its secure storage features from the UK. It was reported previously that the UK government had asked the US tech giant to give it access to users’ protected data worldwide.
Both the current Labour government, the previous Tory administrations and campaigners say they want less rigorous encryption to protect children and prevent crime.
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The latest step in the row comes as Sir Keir Starmer heads to Washington DC to meet with President Donald Trump.
Sir Keir has made technological development – especially AI – central to his plans to grow the UK economy and will be hoping to build ties with Silicon Valley leaders among others.
It is not clear if the reported attempts to impose UK law on a US-based company will impact any talks with the president.
The UK government is said to have made the demand to Apple under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, which is also known as the “Snooper’s Charter”.
The government does not disclose whether it has made orders under the act, and has not commented on the specifics with Apple.
Apple is also prevented from commenting on whether an order was made.
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Public outcry over apple security
In her letter, Ms Gabbard said she had “grave concern” about the UK or any other country “requiring Apple or any company to create a ‘backdoor’ that would allow access to Americans’ personal encrypted data”.
She added: “This would be a clear and egregious violation of Americans’ privacy and civil liberties, and open up a serious vulnerability for cyber exploitation by adversarial actors.”
Ms Gabbard – who is close to Mr Trump – said she was not made aware of the order by the UK.
She said she has requested the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency), DHS (Department of Homeland Security), FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) and NSA (National Security Agency) all to provide her with “insights” about what is in the public domain.
DNI Tulsi Gabbard has criticised the reported UK actions. Pic: AP
US government lawyers have also been asked to give a legal opinion on the implications of the reported order on the bilateral Cloud Act agreement.
The DNI highlighted that the agreement prevents either state from issuing demands for the data of citizens or nationals of the other.
Ms Gabbard’s letter was in response to a letter from Democrat senator Ron Wyden and Republican representative Andy Biggs, sent almost two weeks ago.
This is before Apple pulled its Advanced Data Protection from the UK, but after reports of the request to the iPhone and Mac makers.
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The two politicians said: “These reported actions seriously threaten the privacy and security of both the American people and the US government.”
They urged Ms Gabbard to “reevaluate US-UK cybersecurity arrangements and programmes as well as US intelligence sharing with the UK” if the UK did not change tack.
The Home Office did not comment.
Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, marks their 50th birthday amid a year of rising institutional and geopolitical adoption of the world’s first cryptocurrency.
The identity of Nakamoto remains one of the biggest mysteries in crypto, with speculation ranging from cryptographers like Adam Back and Nick Szabo to broader theories involving government intelligence agencies.
While Nakamoto’s identity remains anonymous, the Bitcoin (BTC) creator is believed to have turned 50 on April 5 based on details shared in the past.
According to archived data from his P2P Foundation profile, Nakamoto once claimed to be a 37-year-old man living in Japan and listed his birthdate as April 5, 1975.
Source: Web.archive.org
Nakamoto’s anonymity has played a vital role in maintaining the decentralized nature of the Bitcoin network, which has no central authority or leadership.
The Bitcoin wallet associated with Nakamoto, which holds over 1 million BTC, has laid dormant for more than 16 years despite BTC rising from $0 to an all-time high above $109,000 in January.
Satoshi Nakamoto statue in Lugano, Switzerland. Source: Cointelegraph
Nakamoto’s 50th birthday comes nearly a month after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a Digital Asset Stockpile, marking the first major step toward integrating Bitcoin into the US financial system.
Related: Bitcoin at 16: From experiment to trillion-dollar asset
Nakamoto’s legacy: a “cornerstone of economic sovereignty”
“At 50, Nakamoto’s legacy is no longer just code; it’s a cornerstone of economic sovereignty,” according to Anndy Lian, author and intergovernmental blockchain expert.
“Bitcoin’s reserve status signals trust in its scarcity and resilience,” Lian told Cointelegraph, adding:
“What’s fascinating is the timing. Fifty feels symbolic — half a century of life, mirrored by Bitcoin’s journey from a white paper to a trillion-dollar asset. Nakamoto’s vision of trustless, peer-to-peer money has outgrown its cypherpunk roots, entering the halls of power.”
However, lingering questions about Nakamoto remain unanswered, including whether they still hold the keys to their wallet, which is “a fortune now tied to US policy,” Lian said.
Related: Bitcoin’s next catalyst: End of $36T US debt ceiling suspension
Is Satoshi Nakamoto wealthier than Bill Gates?
In February, Arkham Intelligence published findings that attribute 1.096 million BTC — then valued at more than $108 billion — to Nakamoto. That would place him above Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on the global wealth rankings, according to data shared by Coinbase director Conor Grogan.
Satoshi’s new addresses. Source: Conor Grogan
If accurate, this would make Nakamoto the world’s 16th richest person.
Despite the growing interest in Nakamoto’s identity and holdings, his early decision to remain anonymous and inactive has helped preserve Bitcoin’s decentralized ethos — a principle that continues to define the cryptocurrency to this day.
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The United States stock market lost more in value over the April 4 trading day than the entire cryptocurrency market is worth, as fears over US President Donald Trump’s tariffs continue to ramp up.
On April 4, the US stock market lost $3.25 trillion — around $570 billion more than the entire crypto market’s $2.68 trillion valuation at the time of publication.
Nasdaq 100 is now “in a bear market”
Among the Magnificent-7 stocks, Tesla (TSLA) led the losses on the day with a 10.42% drop, followed by Nvidia (NVDA) down 7.36% and Apple (AAPL) falling 7.29%, according to TradingView data.
The significant decline across the board signals that the Nasdaq 100 is now “in a bear market” after falling 6% across the trading day, trading resource account The Kobeissi Letter said in an April 4 X post. This is the largest daily decline since March 16, 2020.
“US stocks have now erased a massive -$11 TRILLION since February 19 with recession odds ABOVE 60%,” it added. The Kobessi Letter said Trump’s April 2 tariff announcement was “historic” and if the tariffs continue, a recession will be “impossible to avoid.”
Source: Anthony Scaramucci
On April 2, Trump signed an executive order establishing reciprocal tariffs on trading partners and a 10% baseline tariff on all imports from all countries.
Trump said the reciprocal tariffs will be roughly half the rate US trading partners impose on American goods.
Related: Bitcoin bulls defend $80K support as ‘World War 3 of trade wars’ crushes US stocks
Meanwhile, the crypto industry has pointed out that while the stock market continues to decline, Bitcoin (BTC) remains stronger than most expected.
Crypto trader Plan Markus pointed out in an April 4 X post that while the entire stock market “is tanking,” Bitcoin is holding.
Source: Jeff Dorman
Even some crypto skeptics have pointed out the contrast between Bitcoin’s performance and the US stock market during the recent period of macro uncertainty.
Stock market commentator Dividend Hero told his 203,200 X followers that he has “hated on Bitcoin in the past, but seeing it not tank while the stock market does is very interesting to me.”
Meanwhile, technical trader Urkel said Bitcoin “doesn’t appear to care one bit about tariff wars and markets tanking.” Bitcoin is trading at $83,749 at the time of publication, down 0.16% over the past seven days, according to CoinMarketCap data.
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