The US Ministry of Housing and Urban Development is considering taking the first step to the use of cryptocurrency, in accordance with the entry and other materials considered by the propublica and three officials familiar with this issue. Two officials have reported propublica that the initiative can be a test launch for the use of crypt in the federal government.
Discussions have caused concern about some in the department, especially about the prospect of paying the recipients of large federal grants in cryptocurrency, a digital asset related to financial speculation, dramatic swings in price and transnational crime.
The focus of discussions is still experimenting using the main technology that makes it possible to cry – Blockchain – to control HUD grants. Blockchain fans claim that technology is valuable for such purposes. But the main use of Blockchain, according to experts, is designed for the crystance.
“It’s just the introduction of another unregulated security market, as if it had not happened in 2008, 2009,” said one HUD employee, citing a mortgage crisis. “I see no way that it will help anything. I see a lot of ways that it can hurt, “said an official who, like others in this article, spoke about the state of anonymity, fearing retribution. HUD discussions covered the potential use of a stable, cryptor form, which is tied to another asset, to avoid wild drops, although such areas occurred in the past.
The idea of blockchain is pushing, said Irving Dennis official HUD. Dennis, the new deputy director of the agency, a former partner in the global consulting giant EY, also known for its original Ernst & Young name. Ey also participates in this proposal: the head of the firm discussed the idea with HUD officials last month.
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Crypto -Industry found an ally with President Donald Trump, whose administration knocked industry amplifiers lead federal agencies, retreated Research in krypto -firms and created “Strategic reserve bitcoin“(Bitcoin plunged into $ 5,000 For an hour after the reserve opening on Thursday.) Trump himself has Significant financial interests In the cry. On Friday, the White House is scheduled to accept the “Crypto -Semit” with leading figures from this industry.
The HUD proposal indicates a new way to ensure that the administration sought to strengthen the industry: by including the blockchain and possibly cryptocurrency into the usual costs and accounting practices of federal agencies. This is a step that would match the obvious desire Trump Advisor Elon Musk for Blockchain’s use to control federal costs.
Dennis and Casey Lowt’s press -secretary denied the accounts of their colleagues. “There are no plans for blockchain or stablecoin in the department,” Lautt said. “Education is not implementation”.
Robert Jadson, head of EY, who participated in the conversations, confirmed that they had happened. “We, as a firm, conducted a discussion with the chosen people at this agency,” he said when addressing. Judson said Propublica that he would look for EY approval for a complete interview and then did not call back.
The White House, hey and Musk did not respond to comment requests.
Last month, HUD officials held at least two Blockchain offer. The list of participants of the first meeting included employees of the offices of the financial director and planning and development of society. The CPD manages billions of grant dollars that support low and moderate income, including financing for the development of affordable housing, launching asylum for homeless, maintain recovery at catastrophes, relocate to violence at home and create parks, sewage and public centers. It was a financial director’s office calling for a meeting, one person propublica said.
Also as a participant of the meeting was Judson with hey. Advances Judson stands for Blockchain, a digital book that creates a permanent record of transactions stored on multiple computers. The technology instructions have made a way to reduce intermediaries such as banks and credit card companies, and make these operations more transparent and safe. Judson wrote What Blockchain can help organizations prevent disconnection for unintentional purposes. “Since digital assets such as stable coins or digital currencies will have more powerful applications for integrated values,” he wrote. Dennis, who held the post of HUD financial director in the first Trump administration, also wrote in the book 2021 that the agency should use technologies such as “Blockchain, robotics and financial management systems”.
Stablecoins are supported by reserves, including traditional currency, goods and securities. This should guarantee that their value – unlike, say, Bitcoin – does not range. However on somewhat loud casesThe value of the stabils did this.
At the HUD meeting, visitors discussed the Proof of the Concept, in which the CPD will start tracking the financing that goes to one CPD grant recipient and possibly the Blockchain’s preretsipioners. The need for the project was “insufficiently formulated,” one visitor wrote.
After the meeting, the HUD official wrote and distributed a memo to an agency that signed the idea. “Without exaggeration, every imaginary implementation of this in HUD looks dangerous and ineffective,” the statement reads.
HUD has no difficulty tracking grant costs, Natubevna claimed that she made a new technology unnecessary. Turning it out would be time -consuming, complex and requires extensive preparation. And, if the project that provided for the payment of grants in cryptocurrency instead of dollars, it would introduce volatility and unpredictability into the flow of funding, even if the currency was stable.
In the following discussions with HUD staff, the memory author described the proposal as a “beach” in HUD for the introduction of cryptocurrency, which is compared to “monopoly money”.
At the next meeting, CPD officials continued to raise concern, the record was considered by Propublica. (Judson was not present on this.
“Perhaps there is something we could learn from this,” said one, “especially when we feel that in the future a wider federal government is moving to some stable option.”
One official asked why the agency was considering the project. “Because it’s sexy,” someone replied. The other said, “Irv asked us to chase Blockchain, so we look at it, citing Dennis.
There are many details left at the meeting, including whether the proposal will provide for the payment of grantors in cryptocurrency. But some mentioned it would be.
“You can do this with what will be attached to a stable currency. It would be to the Treasury, and I think they are already going this way,” one official said. “It will mimic the dollar.”
Another added: “Mostly it will be a cryptocurrency that is connected with the US dollar one.”
The financial official suggested that the idea could apply more widely by HUD. “We look at it all the business. We just wanted to start in the CPD,” he said. The agency also considers the idea for the management of public and Indian housing, he said, for “the right to tenants and similar things”. This office serves millions of people living in public and federal housing.
This is not the first time federal officials considered Blockchain’s inclusion in the government’s job. Agency, including the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Trade and even HUD, participated in the study, prototype and the working group in recent years. But those who monitor the crypto -industry did not know about the widespread use of technology in the federal government, as something recently discussed by HUD officials.
Some crypto -experts were questionable. “This is a terrible idea,” said Kerry Freyer, a former US Securities and Exchange Commission, where he focused on the crystals and financial stability. “It is absolutely wild that anyone thinks with any meaning.”
Fireer, who is now in the Federation of America’s consumer federation, warned that HUD grants paid to stablacine can get into the price. He expressed the greatest concern that the proposal could expand to other parts of the agency. If this is enabled, for example, the introduction of stable into 1.3 trillion dollars During the mortgage insurance provided by the Federal Housing Administration, the oscillation of the cost of stable economic impact can have a serious economic impact, he said.
“Imagine a world in which all government involvement in the housing industry, all the means spreading in this environment decreased by 13%,” he said, citing an episode of 2023, in which a brief stable cooker fell 13 cents below Dollar. “It’s hard to imagine that it wouldn’t be catastrophic.”
Hillary Allen, Professor of the Law of the American University, who is engaged in financial regulation and technology research, noted that some high -profile attempts to use blockchain for not -related cryptocurrency purposes. She expressed skepticism that this technology would be better in the context of state grants, where bad results can harm those who depend on HUD financing to survive.
“Blockchain technology has been in existence for 15 years. Nobody wants to use it. And now we have an attempt to force the government,” she said, and “the most vulnerable people” serve “as guinea pigs.”
Molly Simon have made research.
