Unions drag US Treasury to court for giving Elon Musk’s D.O.G.E read-only access to data
A powerful group of unions has declared war on the US Treasury Department, filing a lawsuit to stop Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E) from accessing sensitive financial and personal information yesterday.
The unions want an immediate court order slamming the brakes on Elon’s access to federal payment systems, saying the Treasury illegally handed Elon’s team the keys to the nation’s confidential data, including records tied to taxpayers, federal employees, and companies.
The lawsuit was filed after Scott Bessent, who now heads the Treasury, approved the access, which the unions are saying violates federal privacy protections and places all Americans at risk. In the lawsuit, they demand that any data already collected by D.O.G.E be retrieved and locked away for good.
Elon’s team has been on a mission to sniff out waste in government spending and drag federal tech systems into the 21st century ever since President Donald Trump signed an executive order for D.O.G.E on Jan. 22nd.
Treasury payment systems at the center of controversy
According to the union’s lawsuit, those systems process more than 1.2 billion federal transactions annually, covering everything from Social Security benefits to Medicare payments and defense contracts.
The complaint claims that Elon’s access was granted just after David Lebryk, Treasury’s acting Deputy Secretary, suddenly quit after working in the Treasury for years, helping oversee its payment processes. The unions are using his departure as evidence that something isn’t right.
“Our members’ privacy is being violated, and once that damage is done, you can’t undo it,” their court filing said. Treasury officials aren’t exactly scrambling to apologize. In fact, they’re defending the decision, claiming Elon’s team only has “read-only” access to “coded data.”
According to a report from Fox Business, a Treasury spokesperson told Congress that the access is necessary for operational reviews but won’t impact payments or give D.O.G.E control over the system. “No valid payment requests have been blocked or delayed,” they said.
Congress demands answers on Elon’s growing power
Democrats in Congress, led by Senator Patty Murray, are coming down hard on the Treasury for letting Elon’s hands anywhere near government finances. “Why should we believe them when Elon is bragging on X (formerly Twitter) that D.O.G.E could shut down payments to organizations he doesn’t like?” Murray asked.
She was referring to Elon’s online posts suggesting that D.O.G.E could halt payments to a Lutheran charity if it wanted to. Treasury’s defense? Tom Krause, the CEO of Cloud Software Group and a key member of D.O.G.E, is working as a special government employee under less strict ethical guidelines than full-time federal employees.
Treasury Secretary Bessent says Krause’s role is standard and involves reviewing payment systems to make them more efficient. “He has read-only access, similar to external auditors,” the Treasury’s statement reads.
Rep. Maxwell Frost took it further by showing up at the Treasury, demanding the same access Elon’s team got. “We’re here on behalf of our constituents,” Frost posted on X. “Let us in.” His stunt didn’t work. Steven Cheung, White House communications director, mocked him in fact, calling him “just another example of Democrats chasing social media clout instead of solving problems.”
James Whitfield is markets correspondent at BTCNews. He spent eight years on the equity desk at Bloomberg London before moving to digital assets in 2020, and now leads our daily coverage of spot prices, derivatives and ETF flows. James reads order books for breakfast and has been quoted in the Financial Times, CityAM and CoinDesk. He is a CFA Level III candidate and is based in the City of London.
Bitget’s $70B TradFi Perpetual Volume Shows Demand for Multi-Asset Trading
Bitget processed nearly $70 billion in TradFi perpetual volume during Q2 2026, according to the latest TokenInsight Crypto Exchange Report. It led exchanges in perpetual products tied to traditional markets. That is not a vague demand signal. Traders appear to want crypto and indices in the same account, with commodities and forex available too.
What does nearly $70 billion actually tell us? It offers a glimpse into how experienced crypto traders use exchanges today. Plenty have moved past a menu limited to BTC, ETH, and smaller tokens; they want traditional-market access without moving money across several platforms. Perpetual contracts provide it. My take: this does not prove the market has matured. Trading habits have changed, though.
Bitget’s TradFi volume is also an adoption signal for crypto trading infrastructure. Retail and institutional traders who already understand traditional markets are increasingly comfortable using crypto platforms for contracts tied to indices and commodities, as well as foreign currencies. That distinction is easy to miss. They may have little interest in crypto itself; the infrastructure is what they are adopting.
The crossover is not unprecedented. Major financial institutions began offering Bitcoin futures in late 2017. Spot Bitcoin ETFs arrived in early 2024, after a wait of more than six years. Most commentary frames that history as traditional finance absorbing crypto. That is only half right. TradFi perpetuals may push exposure the other way, bringing familiar markets onto crypto exchanges.
Fresh money does not automatically flow into native crypto assets just because the route exists. Still, imagine someone trading an index perpetual through Bitget: BTC or ETH perpetuals are now one account away, not several transfers away. Once the money is already on the platform, testing another market takes less effort. Small friction matters. I’ll be honest: sometimes it matters more than product novelty.
The volume also has implications for macro flow. Interest rates still shape appetite for risky assets, while TradFi perpetuals let crypto traders respond without sending funds to a regular broker. If the Federal Reserve turns more hawkish and stocks fall, for example, a trader could short an index perpetual on Bitget to offset losses elsewhere in a portfolio. Direct. Fast. Leveraged.
This setup pulls traditional and crypto markets closer together. During the inflation shocks of 2022, investors withdrew money from risk assets, cryptocurrencies included. Put both exposures on one platform and traders may react faster during the next swing. Does that make crypto prices steadier? Not necessarily. Hedging tools help, but leverage has a nasty habit of making a bad week worse.
The US 10-year Treasury yield makes the connection concrete. Sharp moves in the yield have often lined up with changes in BTC’s price. A trader expecting yields to rise could use a TradFi perpetual either to hedge a crypto position or to trade the rate move itself. As I see it, that is a more connected allocation model—not a safer one. Those are different claims.
What this means
Nearly $70 billion in quarterly volume is strong evidence that Bitget has found demand for multi-asset trading. Crypto exchanges are no longer used solely for crypto. Some traders now treat them as gateways between crypto derivatives and contracts linked to traditional markets. The behavior is the signal.
More TradFi activity could bring additional liquidity to crypto platforms. Most bullish takes jump from there to greater stability. I think that skips a step. The same products that help one trader hedge an index position can help another place a larger leveraged bet. I would rather see how people use them before deciding that a wider product menu makes the market healthier.
If the volume holds, Bitget will probably add more TradFi products. Rival exchanges then face a specific choice: build competing contracts or remain focused on crypto derivatives. Their response will show whether Q2 2026 marked the beginning of a wider industry move. Or was it simply an exceptional quarter for Bitget? The next set of exchange figures should answer that.
Regulation may slow the expansion. Financial authorities already scrutinize perpetual contracts, and products linked to traditional assets could draw even more attention. Counter to the usual growth narrative, adding markets may create as much regulatory friction as commercial momentum. TokenInsight’s Q3 2026 report should provide the first meaningful comparison. Another quarter near $70 billion, especially alongside growth at rival exchanges, would make the pattern difficult to shrug off.
Price correlations deserve attention too—particularly around FOMC meetings and major economic releases. If traders hold traditional and crypto exposure on the same platforms, BTC and ETH could respond more closely to changes in equity indices and currencies. Interest-rate moves belong in that analysis as well. Will the relationship look clean from day to day? No. Markets usually are messy.
FAQ
What are TradFi perpetuals?
TradFi perpetuals are exchange-traded contracts that follow the prices of traditional assets. Those assets include stock indices and commodities; foreign currencies are included too. The contracts do not expire. Traders use them to speculate or hedge without owning the underlying asset.
How much TradFi perpetual volume did Bitget record in Q2 2026?
Bitget recorded nearly $70 billion in TradFi perpetual volume during Q2 2026, according to the TokenInsight Crypto Exchange Report.
What does Bitget’s TradFi perpetual volume signify for the crypto market?
It suggests that traders now use crypto exchanges for more than cryptocurrency. Specifically, nearly $70 billion in Q2 2026 points to demand for accounts combining crypto derivatives with contracts tied to traditional markets.
What are the implications for macro flow dynamics?
Traders can hedge or trade moves in traditional markets without leaving a crypto exchange. That can simplify risk management during volatile periods such as the inflation shocks of 2022. The catch is leverage: it can increase losses and feed instability.
What should investors watch for next?
Investors should watch how rival exchanges respond and how regulators treat these products. Q3 2026 volume is the next concrete test of the pattern. They should also track whether relationships among traditional indices, BTC, and ETH tighten around FOMC meetings and major economic releases.
Henrik Lindqvist is our DeFi and on-chain reporter, splitting his time between Stockholm and London. A former software engineer at Klarna, he switched to journalism in 2021 and has since broken stories on MEV exploits, restaking risks and Layer-2 economics. Henrik writes the BTCNews weekly Layer-2 newsletter and has lectured on blockchain architecture at KTH Royal Institute of Technology.
