Coinbase CEO Warns Bitcoin Will 'Take Over As Reserve Currency' If US Fails To Get Debt Under Control

Does Bitcoin have the potential to become the reserve currency of the world? This is an idea that core believers in the asset have toyed with for years. The reasoning is that disillusionment with the debt-driven fiat system will lead to a mass exodus to Bitcoin due to its scarcity, neutrality and global accessibility. Amid growing U.S. debt concerns, the chorus that the age of Bitcoin is near is growing louder.

“If the electorate doesn’t hold congress accountable to reducing the deficit, and start paying down the debt, Bitcoin is going to take over as reserve currency,” Coinbase COIN CEO Brian Armstrong said Wednesday on X in response to data showing that U.S. debt was a hair’s breadth away from $37 trillion.

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“I love Bitcoin, but a strong America is also super important for the world,” Armstrong said. “We need to get our finances under control.”

Just the day before, Gemini CEO Tyler Winklevoss posted “Buy bitcoin” in response to a similar chart.

These sentiments come as the rising U.S. debt is likely to negatively impact investor confidence in the country, which could reflect on the dollar. And many believe that the cracks have begun to show as, amid uncertainty, investors have not flocked to the dollar and U.S. Treasury bonds as usual. Economists Charles Collyns and Michael Klein recently warned that if this pattern continues, it could pave the way for multiple reserve currencies to emerge alongside the dollar. Whether Bitcoin will emerge as one of the alternatives remains to be seen.

Concerns over the ballooning U.S. debt have grown in recent weeks amid debates over the President Donald Trump's “big beautiful bill,” which recently passed the House.

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The bill aims to extend and introduce tax cuts, allocate billions to enhance border security, increase the debt ceiling and implement cuts to spending on social programs such as Medicaid and food assistance. In Trump’s telling, this bill will put significantly more money in the pockets of Americans and boost defense. However, the Congressional Budget Office said the bill could add at least $3.3 trillion to the U.S. deficit over the next decade, exacerbating concerns about the debt.

The bill has drawn flak from even some of Trump’s supporters, including Tesla TSLA CEO Elon Musk.

“This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,” Musk said on Tuesday. “Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”

But the Trump administration continues to downplay these concerns. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CBS earlier this week that calculations of the impact of the big beautiful bill on the U.S. deficit did not account for anticipated revenue from Trump’s controversial tariffs and other initiatives.

“So the deficit this year is going to be lower than the deficit last year, and in two years it will be lower again,” Bessent said. “The goal is to bring it down over the next four years, leave the country in great shape in 2028.”

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