Author: Tristan Greene, CoinTelegraph; Compiler: Deng Tong, Golden Finance

Elon Musk is the unofficial head of US President-elect Donald Trump’s “Department of Efficiency”. Recently announced his first choice title among new companies: Volunteer IT Consultant.

The billionaire tech tycoon's comments were part of a stark warning posted on Musk's X.com about the state of U.S. computer systems.

Musk criticized the US computer system. Source: Elon Musk

Musk said the federation’s computers and software were “in such bad shape that they often were unable to verify whether payments were fraudulent, wasteful or abusive.”

“This is what fails a basic audit. Often they really don’t know where your taxes are going. It’s crazy.”

Musk replied to the original These issues are discussed in the questions and comments in this post.

He explained that the United States is "effectively paying huge amounts of money for software that doesn't work," and while "some of it is intentional," most outdated equipment and software remains, which is " The natural consequence of a vast bureaucracy that is not accountable for results.” He added, "If this was primarily intentional, it could be easily reversed."

Perhaps most notable is Musk's assertion that the IRS is using a system that is said to be decades out of date. Equipment:

Musk responded to a picture showing a computer from the late 1990s. Source: Elon Musk

A user posted an image of what appears to be a computer from the early to mid-1990s, alongside a monitor showing the Windows 98 startup screen, and jokingly claimed they were Computers used by the IRS. In response, Musk wrote: "I hope so. Unfortunately, it's a lot worse than that."

While it's unclear whether Musk was joking, it reflected the overall tone of his statement , implying that the United States—one of the richest countries in the world—has failed to properly maintain and update critical infrastructure.

Based on Musk's comments, however, his assessment doesn't necessarily appear to be motivated. Musk avoided blaming anyone in his post, instead suggesting that the problem was more about entrenched bureaucracy than intentional mismanagement.

So it seems likely that Musk could pursue a non-sexual solution to accelerate accountability and ensure technological progress — and blockchain might fit the bill perfectly.

The incoming Trump has declared that his intention is to make the United States a cryptocurrencyand the de facto global leader in blockchain technology. And, as many experts have pointed out, the most basic use case for blockchain is as an immutable ledger.

If implemented at the federal level, a core IT stack built on blockchain can ensure that every transaction made by the federation has a permanent record. This would enable large-scale audits while providing the potential for absolute transparency in tax allocation and expenditure.