US Government Plans to Publish Economic Data on Blockchain

Highlights:

• The Commerce Department will publish economic data on blockchain, starting with GDP figures first.
• Blockchain will boost transparency, trust, and ease data sharing across government agencies.
• The Trump administration promotes bitcoin, digital assets, stablecoins, and broader blockchain integration nationwide.

Howard Lutnick, U.S. Secretary of Commerce, announced that the department plans to publish economic data via blockchain. During a White House cabinet meeting on Tuesday, he said the effort aims to improve data sharing across federal agencies using blockchain technology. Lutnick explained that the project will begin with GDP data and could later extend to other federal agencies once implementation details are finalized.

He added:

“The Department of Commerce is going to start issuing its statistics on the blockchain, because you are the crypto president, and we are going to put our GDP on the blockchain so people can use it for data and distribution.” 

Although key Commerce Department data, like the U.S. census, is already public, putting it on-chain could improve trust and transparency. Additional details, such as the implementation timeline and which blockchain will be used, have not yet been disclosed. This is the latest step from a pro-industry administration promoting innovation and distributed ledger technology, aiming to modernize data distribution.

Howard noted that the plan was successful thanks to guidance from David Sacks, the White House adviser on cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence. He acknowledged Sacks’ role in establishing Trump’s Bitcoin strategic reserve, which was revealed earlier this year.

BREAKING: U.S. Commerce Secretary Lutnick announces that the U.S. will be issuing economic data on blockchain, beginning with GDP data.

The U.S. government is officially embracing blockchain technology.

— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) August 26, 2025

Trump Administration Pushes Blockchain and Digital Assets

Lutnick earlier mentioned on X that technology forms a core foundation of the Trump administration. He suggested the administration plans to leverage bitcoin, digital assets, and blockchain to advance America and maintain its global economic leadership.

"Technology is at the foundation of the Trump presidency." This Administration is going to use Bitcoin, digital assets, and blockchain to drive America forward and remain the leader in the global economy. I was proud to join President Trump and other leaders in crypto to drive… pic.twitter.com/eRoheUFMO4

— Howard Lutnick (@howardlutnick) March 7, 2025

The Trump administration’s use of blockchain in economic data is one of several crypto-related initiatives. Others involve supporting dollar-backed stablecoins to strengthen the dollar’s global reserve role. Currently, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have started efforts to define which cryptocurrencies qualify as securities and which do not. 

Pro-crypto advocate Lutnick assumed the role of secretary in February after being nominated by Trump. He spent decades at Cantor Fitzgerald, a global financial services company, serving as its chairman and CEO since 1983.

Global Governments Adopt Blockchain to Enhance Public Services

Many governments are already using blockchain to improve public services. In 2016, Estonia secured over a million patient records with blockchain, later using it for digital IDs. In 2018, the European Commission created a blockchain network with France, Slovenia, and Denmark hosting validator nodes. Singapore and Australia experimented with blockchain to streamline international trade documents and cut expenses in 2021. Last year, California’s Department of Motor Vehicles recorded 42 million vehicle titles on blockchain to combat fraud and accelerate ownership transfers.

Before his fallout with Trump, tech entrepreneur Elon Musk proposed running certain parts of the U.S. government on the blockchain. In the future, this approach could extend to other economic data, including important inflation reports like CPI and PCE.