US Posts GDP Data On-Chain, Crypto Industry Demands Dev Protections, CFTC Opens Door to Global Platforms (#222 - 31 August 2025)

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1. U.S. Govt Publishes GDP Data on the Blockchain 

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced that it will begin posting GDP data on the blockchain starting with the July 2025 data.

This is the first time a US federal agency has published economic statistical data on the blockchain.

The Commerce Department published an official hash of its quarterly GDP data on the Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, TRON, Stellar, Avalanche, Arbitrum One, Polygon PoS, and Optimism blockchains.

The data was further disseminated via coordination with the oracles Pyth and Chainlink. The exchanges, Coinbase, Gemini, and Kraken, helped facilitate the Department’s publishing. 

A couple of things to note here. 

First, whilst the U.S. is, to the best of my knowledge, the first large economy to put its GDP data on the blockchain, many other countries have already put official data on-chain, from Estonia for identity to the UAE for land titles. However, the fact that the largest economy is doing this is a significant statement in itself. 

Second, it appears that only a hash of the GDP number is currently posted. But this is an important baby step.

Whilst this ensures there is inalienable data that is available now on-chain, this really becomes powerful when used with oracles that can power smart contracts. For example, on-chain derivatives smart contracts based on these on-chain GDP numbers that can automatically execute. This is, without a doubt, where the future of finance is heading, especially with the rise of tokenization. 

I would expect the U.S. government to publish more similar data on-chain over the coming months, and other countries to probably do the same.  

The official press release is available here.

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2. Crypto Industry Requests Protection for Software Developers

A coalition of over 100 crypto companies and tech lobbying groups sent a letter to the Senate Banking Committee, demanding strong legal protections for software developers in any upcoming crypto market structure bill.

The letter emphasized that developers of decentralized software should not face criminal liability for how others use their programs, comparing public blockchains to infrastructure like roads or the internet. 

This is a very good initiative from the crypto industry. In the same way that we don’t hold engineers responsible if someone uses a road to escape a crime, we should not hold software developers responsible if criminals use their tools for illicit activities. 

This is also timely, especially following the recent conviction of Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm. 

It will be important to see if this initiative works. I think the chances are quite high, as there is very good support for this initiative in the White House, among Republicans, and across the broader crypto and tech ecosystem. 

[NEWSLETTER CONTINUES BELOW]

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3. CFTC to Allow Global Crypto Platforms Access to U.S. Customers

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued new guidance for foreign firms, providing them with a pathway to operate legally in the U.S. through its foreign board of trade (FBOT) registration framework.

This was one of the key recommendations to the CFTC from the President's working group on digital assets last month.

Although this framework has existed for many years, crypto firms could not, in practice, register previously.

Currently, U.S. retail traders are often limited to U.S.-based platforms or the U.S. arms of global platforms, where liquidity and the choice of instruments are limited.

In practice, many still trade on such global platforms using VPNs, but this often causes challenges, such as tax issues or their accounts being closed. 

When it comes to institutional clients, most global crypto exchanges currently refuse to accept U.S. institutional or corporate customers.

U.S. institutional clients go around these by setting up shell entities in places like the Cayman Islands or the BVI that then end up opening such accounts.

This has resulted in a polarized crypto world: the U.S. and the rest of the world. 

This development is positive for the crypto industry as global crypto firms can soon also offer their services to US customers directly via an existing registration mechanism. 

The major winner will be US crypto traders, who will be able to access global platforms without the need for legal gymnastics.

The losers here will be offshore jurisdictions and, to a certain extent, VPN providers!

The official blog post is available here.

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Henri Arslanian

*Please note that this newsletter reflects Henri’s personal views and not those of any organisation he is involved with. This newsletter is for educational purposes only, and none of its content should be construed as investment or financial advice of any kind.