The United States Senate Committee on Armed Services directed the Secretary of Defense, Retired General Lloyd Austin, to test potential applications of blockchain technology for supply chain management and other national security applications within the US Department of Defense (DOD).
The US Senate Committee on Armed Services issued the report for the fiscal year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on July 9. The report included specific authorizations for the Army, Navy, Air Force and Defense-wide programs.
The committee recognized the potential of blockchain technology to enhance the supply chains of US national defense and economic competitiveness:
“The committee notes that blockchain technology has the potential to enhance the cryptographic integrity of the defense supply chain, improve data integrity, and reduce the risk of the manipulation or corruption of certain types of data by near-peer competitors.”
The Senate committee also wants the DOD to explore blockchain use cases “to achieve national security goals and to create secure, transparent, accountable, and auditable data related to supply chains.”
To further this effort, the committee report directed Austin to provide a briefing by April 1, 2025.
The blockchain briefing must include six key findings, which include:
“A plan for pilot programs or research and development efforts to explore the use of blockchain technology in national security applications, including supply chain management, cybersecurity for critical infrastructure assets, and procurement auditability.”
Others include identifying the benefits and risks of blockchain in supply chain tracking and management, analyzing the current state of blockchain adoption in the supply chain industry and foreign countries like China and Russia and identifying feasibility and cost estimates.
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While members the US Senate committee eye blockchain adoption in the near future, US politicians have also started advocating for Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto adoption.
According to a July 8 update to Republican Party presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign website, the Republican National Committee passed a draft of a policy platform that includes advocating for cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin mining.
“We will defend the right to mine Bitcoin, and ensure every American has the right to self-custody of their Digital Assets, and transact free from Government Surveillance and Control,” said the updated platform.
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