Bitcoin is the only available refuge from inflation and potential asset confiscation in the US, which are possible due to the unsustainable trajectory of government spending, according to former CTO of Coinbase and general partner at a16z Balaji Srinivasan.
BITCOIN > BUDGETING
We’re in the looting-the-treasury phase of imperial collapse. The dynamic described below isn’t just happening in San Francisco; it’s also the $100B wasted on Californian high speed rail and the rapidly growing $35T+ national debt at the federal level. And… https://t.co/kI4TmaaI4O
— Balaji (@balajis) March 10, 2024
“We are in the looting-the-treasury phase of imperial collapse,” the expert stated.
According to Srinivasan, the US national debt and expenditures continue to grow at unsustainable rates. The former has reached a record $34.5 trillion, increasing by 25% since 2020.
The entrepreneur outlined four approaches to this issue:
- deny and insist that nothing unusual is happening;
- resolve it through political processes;
- give up and “just feed at the trough”;
- “starve the beast with bitcoin, which they cannot easily seize or print.”
He described the last option as radical but realistic. The reason being that US authorities spend $10 billion more daily than they receive, and this figure is growing. The specialist noted the high threshold for reducing budget expenditures.
The general partner at a16z did not rule out that as the “financial reckoning” for such behavior approaches, the “insatiable state” might consider confiscating private assets.
As an example, Srinivasan recalled the seizure of property from protesting truckers in Canada, the “freezing” of Russia’s gold and foreign exchange reserves by authorities, and the weaponization of Delaware and New York against Elon Musk and Donald Trump, respectively.
“Private property will not be protected by the state in bankrupt Blue [Democratic] America. Any blockchain controlled by Washington is vulnerable. Fortunately, we have digital gold. It is independent of the state and cannot be confiscated. Bitcoin maximalism will prevail. It will save us from state budgeting,” he emphasized.
The expert declined to specify when the “reckoning” would occur. He noted that the inevitability of such a scenario had previously been stated by Ray Dalio, Elon Musk, Larry Fink, and Stanley Druckenmiller.
Like Srinivasan, the author of “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” Robert Kiyosaki also pointed to the shaky US public finances as a reason to invest in assets like bitcoin.
Don’t be SCARED: Be PREPARED: US debt $34 trillion. Debt increasing by $1 trillion every 90 days. America is sick. Prepare now. Buy more gold, silver, Bitcoin.
Please take care.— Robert Kiyosaki (@theRealKiyosaki) March 9, 2024
“[The national] debt is increasing by $1 trillion every 90 days. America is sick. Prepare now. Buy more gold, silver, bitcoin. Please, take care,” the entrepreneur advised.
Earlier, billionaire investor and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Bill Ackman optimistically assessed the prospects of the first cryptocurrency and suggested a decline in the US dollar amid rising inflation.
In March 2023, Srinivasan wagered $1 million that the price of the first cryptocurrency would reach $1 million within the next three months due to hyperinflation in the US.
Before the bet’s deadline, he conceded defeat. The expert directed $500,000 each in USDC to bitcoin developers, the organization Give Directly, and his opponent in the bet, economist James Medlock.