Elon Musk, picked by President Donald Trump to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency, proposed using blockchain technology as part of the operation, Bloomberg reported.
Musk suggested that using a digital ledger would be a cost-efficient way to track federal spending, secure data, make payments and manage buildings, according to people familiar with the matter.
Several representatives of public blockchains have met with affiliates of DOGE, the people said.
The department was created in response to the federal government’s spending of $6.7 trillion in fiscal 2024, which Musk in October called “wasted” money. He promised the department — whose acronym is a nod to Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency, dogecoin (DOGE) — would slash the figure to at most $2 trillion.
Given the department’s name and Trump’s determination to establish crypto-friendly policies in the U.S., Musk’s plan to incorporate blockchain technology doesn’t come as a surprise.
In addition to creating DOGE on Jan. 20, Trump signed an executive order to create a working group on digital assets led by venture capitalist David Sacks with a mandate to identify all regulations that currently touch crypto within 30 days, among other things.