Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong: Fiat is on track to be regarded as “funny money”

By AymT 01/29/20 11:34 PM

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong says government currency is on track to be regarded as “funny money” as the US national debt roars toward $31.4 trillion over the next decade. Citing a new study published on Tuesday by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Armstrong, who runs the largest Bitcoin (BTC) exchange in the US, tweeted “consider crypto” to his 318,000 followers.

Consider crypto

“U.S. National Debt Will Rise to 98% of GDP by 2030, CBO Projects” https://t.co/PNniOjpZUV

— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) January 29, 2020

The CBO report says the US federal government debt will surge within 10 years. Armstrong believes it will be a big blow to the financial system, establishing cryptocurrency as more sound and stable than the US dollar.

He tweeted:

Crypto is seen as real money that people can’t tamper with (at least control is decentralized and I can trust people to review the open-source code). Why put your livelihood into something that could be manipulated or devalued without your input.

Armstrong believes it’s only a matter of time before the perception of crypto undergoes a radical shift as people begin to realize how the US dollar can be devalued.

Most people today probably still think of cryptocurrency as funny money, or a speculative asset class. But I believe we’re going to see this perspective flip, probably starting with young people as with many things, where holding a government’s currency is seen as funny money.

The CBO projection is staggering: the projected $31.4 trillion debt is the highest level since the end of World War II, equal to 98% of gross domestic product.

Testifying before the House Budget Committee on Wednesday, CBO Director Phillip Swagel says there’s still time to address fiscal challenges but that the national debt is on an unsustainable path.