Elon Musk has become deeply embedded in U.S. president Donald Trump’s White House after declaring a U.S. “financial emergency” while on the campaign trail.
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Musk, the Tesla billionaire-turned-government-cost-cutter, is leading the so-called Doge department of government efficiency, proposed by Trump’s Commerce department nominee Howard Lutnick to “rip the waste out of our $6.5 trillion budget.”
Now, as fears emerge Trump’s administration is “dangerously” undermining the U.S. dollar, Musk has confirmed he wants to put the U.S. Treasury on a blockchain, the technology that underpins bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies—including Musk’s pet project dogecoin.
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Billionaire Elon Musk has become a close advisor to U.S. president Donald Trump, leading the Doge … [+]
“Career Treasury officials are breaking the law every hour of every day by approving payments that are fraudulent or do not match the funding laws passed by Congress,” Musk posted to X, referencing part of the United States code which outlines how some government payments are approved. “This needs to stop now!”
Replying to X influencer Mario Nawfal who asked: “Should the Treasury be put on the blockchain so this doesn’t happen,” Musk replied: “Yes!”
Earlier, the New York Times reported Trump’s Treasury secretary Scott Bessent handed Doge department officials access to the payment system which sends out money to the tune of $5 trillion per year on behalf of the entire federal government on Friday, citing anonymous sources.
Last week, Musk held discussions about using the blockchain technology to save money, it was reported by Bloomberg, citing anonymous sources.
Unnamed people close to Musk told the financial newswire that there’s been talk of using a blockchain to track federal spending, secure data, make payments and manage buildings.
It is unclear if Musk plans on using an existing blockchain, such as bitcoin’s, ethereum’s, dogecoin’s or one of thousands of smaller blockchains which have their own cryptocurrencies, or if he would rather create a new, purpose built blockchain.
Following Musk’s take over of Twitter, which he then renamed X, Musk also debated adding blockchain technology to the platform before ditching the idea, text messages between Musk and his brother Kimbal revealed in 2022.
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The dogecoin price has surged following Donald Trump’s election victory as traders bet on Elon … [+]
The Doge department is a nod to the shiba inu doge meme that’s also linked to the dogecoin cryptocurrency, named by Musk as his “favorite” cryptocurrency and accepted as payment by his Tesla car company.
The dogecoin price has rocketed higher following Trump’s election victory, surging along with the bitcoin price, as traders bet Musk’s proximity to the U.S. president will further boost the meme-based cryptocurrency.
In his first week back in the White House Trump followed through on his campaign promises to make overhauling crypto policy one of his administration’s priorities, ordering the creation of a cryptocurrency working group tasked with proposing new regulations and exploring the creation of a national cryptocurrency stockpile.
Trump’s crypto and artificial intelligence czar, venture capitalist David Sacks, will chair the group, with Sacks—an early investor in the ethereum rival cryptocurrency solana—praised by Trump who later told Fox Business Trump’s actions showed he is following through on his promise to make the U.S. the “crypto capital” of the world, something Trump also told World Economic Forum attendees in Davos.