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 U.S. Department of Defense.
The U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services issued the fiscal year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) report 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 U.S. 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 wanted the Department of Defense (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 the U.S. Senate members eye blockchain adoption in the near future, U.S. politicians have started advocating for Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto adoption.
According to a July 8 update to Republican frontrunner Donald Trump’s campaign website, the Republican National Committee (RNC) 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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