The use cases for blockchain technology are expanding at a rapid pace. One of the primary reasons for that evolution is the transparency offered by this technology.
As more end users embrace the transparency advantages offered by blockchain, the related investment thesis could expand and benefit. That could potentially signal long-term upside for assets such as the Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF (BLOK). The fund is actively managed. Thus it has more flexibility than index-based rivals to respond to blockchain’s evolution beyond its foundation in the cryptocurrency arena.
One area in which blockchain can bring much-needed transparency is the often opaque world of federal government legislation. In fact, presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. believes blockchain is ideal for allowing Americans to get a better sense of how their elected representatives are spending their hard-earned tax dollars.
Betting on Blockchain for the Budget
Kennedy is a well-documented bitcoin backer. So it’s not surprising he sees utility in blockchain. In what could be constructive for some BLOK holdings, Kennedy believes the Federal budget is an ideal avenue for deploying blockchain technology.
It’s a solid argument when considering many federal spending bills span thousands of pages. That makes them off-putting regarding consumption by nearly all tax payers and voters. Kennedy believes blockchain applied to the budget could be a way to hold politicians accountable to voters for often frivolous spending.
“I’m going to put the entire U.S. budget on blockchain so that any American — every American can look at every budget item in the entire budget anytime they want 24 hours a day,” said the candidate at a campaign rally in Michigan last Sunday. “We’re gonna have 300 million eyeballs on our budget. And if somebody is spending $16,000 for a toilet seat, everybody’s gonna know about it.”
That toilet seat example refers to a popular report from the 1980s noting the Defense Department spent $640 for toilet seats during that decade before the replacement cost of those items somehow ballooned to $10,000 three decades later.
Obviously, the government spends a massive amount of money. And those expenditures comprised a dizzying amount of transactions. Kennedy hasn’t yet outlined how his administration would move those transactions onto the blockchain for public scrutiny. But it’s clear some BLOK holdings could ease that endeavor while adding efficiencies and transparency.
Separately, Kennedy previously said he’d like to back the U.S. dollar with bitcoin if he’s elected to the White House, signaling long-term support for blockchain and cryptocurrency.
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