Commerce Department Takes the Lead
The US government is putting economic data on the blockchain. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced that the Department of Commerce will begin publishing gross domestic product (GDP) figures onchain, with plans to expand to other statistics in the future.
Speaking at a White House cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Lutnick addressed President Donald Trump directly:
The program will start with GDP releases, before the department finalizes technical details and broadens adoption across federal agencies.
Blockchain as a Tool for Transparency
The move comes amid Trump’s frequent criticisms of US economic data, which he has repeatedly dismissed as unreliable or politically motivated. In April, Trump brushed off a 0.3% GDP contraction as a “tariff-driven blip.” By May, he rejected a Congressional Budget Office forecast of 1.8% growth, insisting the economy could grow by as much as 9%.
The new blockchain initiative aims to reduce doubts about manipulation by securing government statistics on a tamper-proof ledger. Still, experts note that while blockchain can protect how data is stored and shared, it cannot guarantee the accuracy of the numbers themselves.
Other Governments Already Lead the Way
The US move follows examples worldwide. In Estonia, blockchain has secured more than 1 million patient records in its national e-Health system since 2016. In 2018, the European Blockchain Services Infrastructure (EBSI) launched across EU member states, using Hyperledger Besu to deliver cross-border services.
Meanwhile, Singapore and Australia tested blockchain in 2021 for trade documents, cutting red tape and costs, and in 2024, California’s DMV digitized 42 million car titles on Avalanche to combat fraud.
Lutnick’s plan, therefore, positions the United States among governments using blockchain to modernize administration and data distribution.
Musk’s Earlier Push and Trump’s Tensions
The announcement also revives a controversial idea once floated by Elon Musk, who proposed running parts of the US government on blockchain. While Musk’s plan fizzled amid political fallout with Trump, the EBSI-like concept of verifiable, decentralized data is now gaining traction at the federal level.
Blockchain’s Promise — and Its Limits
The initiative underscores blockchain’s appeal as a transparent and tamper-resistant recordkeeping system. It can secure economic reports, enable auditable public data, and even boost trust in government releases.
But as analysts point out, blockchain only ensures the integrity of published data, not whether the data itself is accurate. For now, Trump’s push for blockchain in government may reshape how Americans consume official statistics — while the political battles over the numbers themselves are far from over.
