U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said the Department of Commerce will begin publishing its statistics on the blockchain, including gross domestic product (GDP).
What Happened: Speaking at the White House cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump and other officials, the Commerce Secretary tied the decision directly to the administration's embrace of digital assets.
"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 out GDP on the blockchain so people can use the blockchain for data distribution and then we're going to make that available to the entire government so all of you can do it. We're just ironing out all the details so we can do it," Lutnick said.
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Why It Matters: His remarks came after outlining a series of trade, industrial, and financial measures, including agreements with Japan, Korea, and the European Union, as well as clawbacks of funds previously awarded under the prior administration.
Lutnick noted that tariffs, semiconductor repatriation, and enforcement actions were part of the administration's broader economic agenda.
The blockchain announcement was presented as one of two additional initiatives, alongside efforts to renegotiate ownership of patents created with public funding.
Lutnick said universities had long benefited from taxpayer money to develop research but retained patent rights, adding, "So we are going to make a deal with them all, which is if we give them the money, don't you think it's fair that the United States of America and the taxpayers who funded it get a piece of that?"
The Commerce Secretary emphasized his enthusiasm for the new initiatives and his role in the administration's policy execution. "We're just ironing out all the details so we can do it," Lutnick said, referring specifically to publishing GDP on blockchain.
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