Bloomberg reported that Elon Musk is considering using public blockchains as part of his role leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The story cites un-named sources and mentions discussions with numerous public blockchains.
The article says that Musk had more than a hundred volunteers writing code before the Presidential inauguration. Blockchain applications under consideration include tracking federal spending, securing data, making payments and managing buildings.
If people are interested, it’s already possible for the public to access spending data through public federal procurement databases. Using blockchain, it might be possible to automate some of the payment disbursements. As soon as a contract can demonstrate it’s reached a milestone, the cash would automatically be released, reducing the level of administration required.
Several US government departments are already using blockchain for tracking and securing data.
Blockchain startup SIMBAChain landed several defense government contracts. One involves using tokenization for the US Air Force supply chain budget so it can track the movement of funds between departments and suppliers as well as keeping tabs on key potential supply risks. EY launched a similar sounding public procurement platform, EY OpsChain. SIMBAChain and Xage have also been involved in projects to secure sensitive data.
Provided it’s not storing sensitive data, public blockchains may be viable. For example, if a hash is used as a data fingerprint to check that data hasn’t been tampered with, that could work better on a public blockchain because it’s far harder to tamper with. SIMBAChain supports two private and three public blockchains. The EY solution also supports both.
The Department of Homeland Security has also used blockchain for various applications, including tracing oil imports. Many of its applications are for customs purposes.
The pan-European EBSI platform for government applications is using blockchain for verifiable credentials such as education, for document traceability and trusted data exchange, including for asylum. Given it’s an EU initiative, EBSI requires significant coordination.
We suspect DOGE will move somewhat faster.
