Bitcoin buying advised as US enters the ‘looting-the-treasury phase’

Two crypto influencers on X have called on their followers to snap up Bitcoin (BTC), gold and silver, citing the risk of rising national debt in the United States.

In an X post on March 11, entrepreneur and angel investor Balaji Srinivasan argued that Bitcoin is the only realistic solution to escape the inevitability of unsustainable government spending and potential asset confiscation.

“We’re in the looting-the-treasury phase of imperial collapse,” the former Coinbase chief technology officer told his 994,000 followers.

Srinivasan argued that government debt and wasteful spending continue to grow rapidly at unsustainable levels. U.S. national debt is currently at a record high of $34.5 trillion, increasing 25% since 2020.

U.S. national debt since 2000. Source: St. Louis Fed

Srinivasan, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), said there are four approaches to the problem: Deny it is happening, fix it through political processes, give up, and “simply feed yourself at the trough,” or:

“Starve the beast with Bitcoin, which is money they can’t easily seize or print.”

“The last is radical but actually realistic,” he said, adding that government deficits are now at $10 billion per day and growing.

Rich Dad Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki also advised “being prepared” and investing in store-of-value assets such as Bitcoin in a March 11 post.

“Debt increasing by $1 trillion every 90 days. America is sick. Prepare now. Buy more gold, silver, Bitcoin. Please take care.”

Meanwhile, Srinivasan also warned that as financial reckoning approaches, the “ravenous state” may consider confiscating private assets.

Srinivasan offered a handful of examples, such as the seizing of assets from protesting Canadian truckers, freezing Russian assets and the “weaponization of Delaware against Elon [Musk] and New York against [Donald] Trump.”

“Private property will not be protected by the state in a bankrupt Blue America,” he said before adding:

“Fortunately, we have Bitcoin, which isn’t dependent on the state and can’t easily be seized.”

In March 2023, Srinivasan famously bet $2 million that BTC would reach $1 million by June of that year due to hyperinflation in the United States.

A large amount of economic and inflation data will be released in the U.S. this week. Figures include February’s adjusted core Consumer Price Index (CPI), February Producer Price Index (PPI) and one-year inflation rate expectations.

This week’s U.S. economic calendar. Source: @markets_bot on X

“A hot CPI inflation report this week would really set the tone of the March Fed meeting,” commented macroeconomic outlet The Kobeissi Letter.

Chicago Mercantile Exchange data shows the probability of the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates unchanged on March 20 is as high as 97%. Interest rates in the U.S. are currently 5.5%, where they have been since July 2023.

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