Secretary Howard Lutnick announced that the U.S. Department of Commerce will release GDP statistics and economic data on the blockchain, although the implementation details remain unclear.
The Trump administration continues to demonstrate its commitment to the cryptocurrency industry through the latest move from the U.S. Department of Commerce, as Secretary Howard Lutnick publicly announced plans to put government economic data on the blockchain platform.
In a cabinet meeting on Tuesday afternoon, Lutnick informed President Donald Trump that his department would begin releasing statistics on the blockchain, emphasizing that this move aligns with Trump's role as the 'cryptocurrency president.' The Secretary stated that the initial plan would focus on GDP data and may expand to the entire government in the future.
Lutnick explained that the goal is to enable everyone to use blockchain in data distribution; however, the specific details of how to implement it have not yet been clarified. The Commerce Department has not responded to requests for clarification on this statement, including the choice of specific blockchain networks and the practical benefits of the initiative.
The phrase 'on the blockchain' that Lutnick uses recalls the 2018 period when it was a popular marketing slogan in the cryptocurrency industry, appearing frequently in press releases and headlines. However, this phrase is now less seriously used in the industry due to its ambiguity, as 'blockchain' can refer to thousands of different networks from Ethereum, Solana to Algorand or VeChain, each with entirely different functions and goals.
The connection between cryptocurrency and real challenges
Secretary Lutnick has deep ties to the cryptocurrency industry through the financial company Cantor Fitzgerald on Wall Street. The company has connections to the stablecoin issuer Tether, the entity behind USDT – the largest stablecoin in the world, and claims to hold a large portion of Tether's U.S. government bond reserves. Cantor is also currently considering a multi-billion dollar Bitcoin purchase.
The U.S. Department of Commerce is responsible for many important federal government data collection functions, including the census and economic statistics. However, this data has already been made public, making the main benefit of 'on-chain' data – the ability to be public and transparent – potentially redundant.
