In a recent Trump Cabinet meeting, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said he’d put US economic data on the blockchain. Apparently, he’d first begin with GDP statistics.
His announcement was vague and non-actionable, and Trump didn’t seem interested. This plan could work, but someone will actually need to make it happen.
US Data on the Blockchain?
Blockchain technology has a wide range of niche use cases, and the US government has recently been trying to experiment with it. Last month, for example, the SEC launched a program to put American capital markets on the blockchain.
Commerce Secretary Lutnick’s comments today are therefore in line with a broader pattern, as he promised to include a wide array of US economic stats on the blockchain, starting with GDP:
To be clear, Secretary Lutnick said this as a thirty-second aside during a Cabinet meeting; he did not describe a detailed, actionable plan. At first glance, this might suggest that this vision is still in the earliest stages. That is to say, Lutnick may wish to put US economic data on the blockchain, but it’s not necessarily a done deal.
Take, for instance, an analogous Web3-related plan. Trump promised a Strategic Crypto Reserve months before he won the election, but it hasn’t happened yet.
Progress updates remain vague and sporadic, and there are some serious problems that Treasury Secretary Bessent neglected to mention in a recent interview.
In the Cabinet meeting, Trump didn’t say one word in response to Lutnick’s US blockchain plan. If a key campaign promise like the Crypto Reserve hasn’t materialized yet, this niche idea’s odds don’t look good by comparison.
Implementing Lutnick’s Plan
To be clear, the US can put economic statistics on its blockchain. For example, India is exploring a similar solution to record land records, supply chains, and digital commerce records. This is theoretically feasible; the main question is how the Trump administration would execute this vision.
Ethereum is probably the best choice, as it’s arguably the “birthplace of DeFi.” It’s interoperable with open source, its blockchain is designed to handle niche uses like this, and ETH is gaining in prominence among TradFi institutions.
Bitcoin inscriptions might also work, although these solutions are declining in relevance.
However, Ethereum has practically zero business connections with President Trump, and plenty of other firms are deeply entangled with him. Based on the entire trajectory of Trump’s second term in office, it seems like he’d pick a trusted partner to put US data on the blockchain. This might include Solana, Ripple, or another firm, but that’s all speculation.
There’s still one question remaining, though. Who is this for? Even though Lutnick’s announcement encouraged some social media hype, that hasn’t really translated to any specific token. Many users just reported confusion:
Sure, putting economic data on the blockchain would further Trump’s commitment to making the US a “crypto capital” worldwide. In the grand scheme, though, that seems like a gimmick. Does anyone have the follow-through to make sure this plan launches?
This wouldn’t be the first time a Trump official announced some Web3-related ambition that never went anywhere. US economic data may well end up on the blockchain, but it seems a little soon to start celebrating.
The post Howard Lutnick Wants To Record US Economic Data on the Blockchain appeared first on BeInCrypto.
Source: https://beincrypto.com/us-economic-data-blockchain-gdp/
