US Debt Hits $25T — Stimulus Checks That Bought Bitcoin Now Worth $1.6K

Bitcoin (BTC) proponents are in shock once again this week as the true extent of the United States’ fiat debt bubble becomes clearer. 

Citing statistics from the U.S. Treasury on May 7, markets analyst Mati Greenspan noted that the country’s total national debt has passed $25 trillion for the first time ever.

U.S. adds $24M of debt per minute

The unenviable achievement follows several huge rounds of public financing from the Trump administration via the Federal Reserve. Since April 9, the debt mountain has increased by $1 trillion.

That, Greenspan notes, is the equivalent of $24 million every single minute last month. 

According to data from online monitoring resource U.S. Debt Clock, each taxpayer is now $201,000 in debt, putting into perspective the selective $1,200 checks Americans received several weeks ago. 

Greenspan commented on the $25 trillion threshold being broken with a familiar meme among cryptocurrency fans — the “BRRR” sound used to describe the Fed’s printing press.

U.S. national debt, 1942-present. Source: TradingEconomics/ U.S. Treasury

A century of warnings goes unheeded

As Cointelegraph often reports, economists who do not subscribe to inflationary policies promoted by governments have long warned that inflation cannot result in prosperity.

The grim reality of money printing is a regular point of debate in Bitcoin circles, notably on financial news show the Keiser Report, as well as on social media and in Saifedean Ammous’ popular book, “The Bitcoin Standard.”

Long before Bitcoin existed, dissenting voices railed against the irrational behavior of central banks inflating the money supply. Notably, Henry Hazlitt forecast the current situation in his seminal book, “Economics in One Lesson,” published just a year after the end of the Second World War. 

Meanwhile, others continue to make light of the absurd debasement of fiat currency. A dedicated Twitter account covering the U.S. stimulus checks notes that a check invested in Bitcoin on April 15 would now instead be worth $1,609. 

In mid-April, Cointelegraph reported that the percentage of deposits and buys worth $1,200 — the exact value of the stimulus check — increased over four times, according to Coinbase CEO, Brian Armstrong.