On the sidelines of the G7 in Hiroshima, Joe Biden expressed disconcerting remarks on cryptocurrencies, creating an amalgam with the debt of the United States. We put this quote in context, and take stock of the US government’s strained debt situation.
Joe Biden points the finger at “crypto traders”
During a speech Sunday on the sidelines of the G7 in Hiroshima, Joe Biden, the President of the United States, uttered a phrase that questioned the cryptocurrency ecosystem :
“And I’m not going to accept a deal that protects wealthy tax cheats and crypto traders, while jeopardizing food aid for nearly a hundred, excuse me, nearly a million Americans.” »
Taking this quote out of context, we might think he was referring to regulatory issues, but the subject is actually quite different. In effect, the agreement in question relates to the American debtand the speech preceded a discussion he was to have with Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy.
For its part, the Republican Party would like to see US debt ceiling to be raised. Joe Biden opposes it, and has therefore supported his argument by mixing the tax breaks of the oil industry, the excesses of the pharmaceutical industry, the cuts of posts in the public service and the previous quote.
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Where do cryptocurrencies fit into all of this?
The amalgam and the sophism are common tools in politics : the speaker exposes a fact or an element that has no connection with the subject of his speech, and twists this in such a way as to establish a causality.
The thing is, cryptocurrency traders here have absolutely nothing to do with some Americans’ need for food aid, and even less with the debt of the United States. About the debt, the latter has been climbing almost exponentially for 40 years now in the country.
Over the last 25 years, the graph below shows an increase of around 40%, just since the Covid-19 pandemic, currently valuing the debt at nearly $31.458 billion. And for good reason, the unit used here is not the dollar, but the million dollars:
United States government debt in millions of dollars
It is then appropriate to to question the relevance of reporting cryptocurrencies to such a subject. This thus speaks to the US government’s position on digital assets.
Regarding this debt, if an agreement is not reached by June 1, the United States could theoretically find itself in default of payment, a possibility for which Joe Biden wanted to be reassuring:
“America has never defaulted, never defaulted on its debt, and it never will. »
Indeed, all that is needed is for Congress to raise this debt ceiling year after year as is the trend, allowing the government to borrow almost unlimitedly.
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Sources: White House, Trading Economics
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I timidly discovered the world of blockchain at the end of 2018 during my quest for financial freedom. Initially invested moderately, it was only two years later that I took the gamble of betting everything on the movement that was taking shape then. I then dedicate 2021 to training myself better to acquire more knowledge and seriousness. As I often like to say: I still have a billion things to learn. And what I do know, I want to share with you.
Vincent Mayor
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