Small amendment adds blockchain development to the newest U.S. defense bill

The United States of America is currently focused on its military optimization and upgrades, with President Trump warmly supporting the Army in his speeches.

The latest Senate bill provides Pentagon with a fantastical sum of $700 billion, which is bigger than the GDP of some small countries. A curious amendment No. 1055 can be found in the document. It was proposed by Senator Rob Portman of Ohio and approved unanimously.

According to the amendment Web page (click the “Text” tab on it to see the full amendment text), the Secretary of Defense will now have to prepare a report on the potential offensive and defensive applications of the blockchain solutions and distributed ledger tech, as well as on opportunities for using in critical state infrastructure and its sustainability to cyberattacks. In other words, the Pentagon will assess blockchain and write a report on what’s better to do with it in 180 days.

The current United States military officials have repeatedly stated that they consider the cyberspace as important as offline battle grounds. Recently, they even established the United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM), a subordinate to the Unified Combatant Command. The Department of Defense is now rapidly becoming more and more tech-savvy and educates itself on the latest technologies even faster.