HUD Is Reportedly Looking to Experiment with Blockchain and a Stablecoin for Some of Its Functions

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development is reportedly looking to experiment with using blockchain and a stablecoin for some of its functions.

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is experimenting with blockchain and a stablecoin for some of its functions, according to a report by ProPublica on March 7.

The department, whose duties include overseeing social housing, has so far discussed the possibility of using blockchain to monitor grants and experimenting with paying a HUD grantee using a stablecoin, which could first be tested in one of the department’s offices before being applied broadly across other offices.

The report, which is based on a recording of a March 6 meeting, documents and three officials familiar with the matter, claims that the experiment could be a trial run for the use of crypto and blockchain across the federal government.

At the meeting, which discussed a project where the Community Planning and Development (CPD) office would track funds to one grantee on the blockchain, one attendee wrote that the need for the project was “not well articulated.”

However, a HUD official slammed the plan in a staff memo seen by ProPublica, describing it as “dangerous and inefficient.” They added that it was unnecessary and complicated and that stablecoin payments would create volatility.

According to minutes from a follow-up meeting on March 12, HUD staffers had a more mixed review of the project, with some saying it could involve paying grantees with crypto and one official saying it could be done with “a stable currency.” A finance official said blockchain would be implemented across the agency, starting in the CPD.

But a HUD spokesperson told ProPublica that “the department has no plans for blockchain or stablecoin. Education is not implementation.”

President Donald Trump has been a keen supporter of the crypto industry and the reported HUD experiment mimics the ideas of Musk, who is a known supporter of the crypto sector and is pushing to use blockchain in a bid to cut federal spending.

Earlier this week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also spoke about the government’s interest in exploring stablecoins further.

Speaking at the White House Crypto Summit on March 7, Bessent said the government would ”put a lot of thought into the stablecoin regime” in a bid to “keep the US [dollar] the dominant reserve currency in the world.”