US Commerce Department will put GDP data on the blockchain, says Howard Lutnick

Key Takeaways

• The US Commerce Department will publish official GDP and economic statistics on the blockchain.
• The initiative aims to modernize data distribution and make federal statistics more accessible via blockchain technology.

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The US Department of Commerce plans to publish official economic statistics, including GDP data, on the blockchain, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Tuesday during a White House cabinet meeting.

“The Department of Commerce is going to start issuing its statistics on the blockchain because you are the crypto president,” said Lutnick in a wide-ranging address that touched on tariffs, semiconductors, patents, and trade deals.

The plan focuses on releasing GDP figures on-chain to enable people to “use the blockchain for data distribution,” Lutnick said. The department aims to expand its capability across other government agencies.

“We’re going to make that available to the entire government so all of you can do it,” Lutnick said. He noted that officials are “just ironing out all the details” to implement the program.

The move would mark one of the first major implementations of blockchain technology for US government economic reporting.

Elon Musk, ex-director of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), previously explored the implementation of blockchain technology at the government entity to improve transparency, automate tracking of federal spending, secure sensitive data, and streamline payment processes.

However, the initiative remained in exploratory phases without full-scale implementation before Musk departed from DOGE.

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