pull down to refresh

Putin Adviser Alleges US Will Use Stablecoins to Address Debtbitbo.io/news/putin-stablecoin-debt-claim/
126 sats \ 11 comments \ @0xbitcoiner 9 Sep econ
  • Putin adviser Dmitry Kobyakov accuses the US of using stablecoins to eliminate its $35 trillion national debt.
  • Kobyakov draws comparisons to historical US debt strategies and claims the scheme involves transferring obligations into digital assets before devaluation.
  • The accusations follow the signing of the GENIUS Act by President Trump, which established a regulatory framework for stablecoins.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s adviser, Dmitry Kobyakov, has accused the United States of engineering a scheme to eliminate its $35 trillion national debt by leveraging stablecoins and digital assets.
...read more at bitbo.io
write
preview
related posts
100 sats \ 2 replies \ @3a42879d5f 9 Sep
Jack Mallers has been talking about his theory of Trump's plan to debase the dollar against gold and bitcoin.
Foreign countries aren't buying US treasuries anymore. They're considered junk.
Foreign individuals do want stablecoins like USDT. Tether is one of the largest holders of US treasuries.
Over time, Tether will buy more T-bills. USDT backed by US treasures a.k.a. dollar a.k.a. US debt instruments.
Then when the time is ready, the Fed does the big print. Money printer go brrr. Dollar value tanks vs. Bitcoin. Oh that USDT you're holding? Worthless against Bitcoin. Bitcoin Strategic Reserve strong, very strong.
Something like that idk
reply
0 sats \ 0 replies \ @kepford 10 Sep
Mallers isn't the only one that's been saying this for a while now.
reply
0 sats \ 0 replies \ @SimpleStacker 9 Sep
Yeah, this makes sense. As undisciplined said, it's just another part of the same printing strategy, just printing it to a new demand market that previously couldn't buy US denominated instruments directly.
reply
33 sats \ 6 replies \ @Undisciplined 9 Sep
I don't see how it could eliminate the debt, but it's a pretty standard take that stablecoins will be used to soak up new debt issuance.
reply
42 sats \ 0 replies \ @0xbitcoiner OP 9 Sep
Eliminating trillions in debt sounds like a pretty wild claim to me. There's no way you can just wipe out that much debt. I posted that more as a heads-up to the community about what they're cooking up with this stablecoin law stuff.
reply
21 sats \ 4 replies \ @SimpleStacker 9 Sep
I didn't understand either so I asked ChatGPT. The response seems relatively well thought out:
Here’s a breakdown of what Putin adviser Anton (sometimes referred to as Dmitry) Kobyakov claimed—and what that could mean, hypothetically:

What Did Kobyakov Actually Say?

At the Eastern Economic Forum on September 6, 2025, Kobyakov alleged that the United States is planning a crypto-based strategy to offload or “erase” its roughly $35–$37 trillion national debt. His key claim:
  • The U.S. would convert part of its government debt into stablecoins, placing it in a so-called “crypto cloud,” then devalue that debt and “start from scratch” (CryptoSlate, Cointelegraph, Mitrade).
He framed it as a deliberate scheme, echoing past U.S. maneuvers (1930s, 1970s) to restructure financial obligations at global expense (CryptoSlate, The Economic Times).

Is There Any Basis to This—And What Could It Mean?

1. Real Strategy or Rhetoric?

There is no known official U.S. policy to tokenize—or “offload”—its national debt via stablecoins. Rather, this appears to be a rhetorical claim rather than evidence-backed:
  • The stablecoin market remains extremely small compared to U.S. debt—just hundreds of billions vs. trillions in obligations (Mitrade).

2. Current U.S. Policy on Stablecoins

  • In July 2025, the U.S. passed the GENIUS Act, which regulates stablecoins by requiring full backing in cash or short-term U.S. Treasury securities. The purpose was to enhance transparency and legitimacy, not erase debt (Wikipedia, Mitrade, CoinCentral).
  • U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent views stablecoins as a tool to boost demand for U.S. Treasuries, especially short-term bills, and support the dollar’s global role—not to devalue debt (Reuters, Financial Times).

3. How Stablecoins Actually Interact with U.S. Debt

  • Right now, stablecoin issuers (like Tether, Circle) are buying Treasuries to back their tokens. This increases demand for debt, potentially lowering yields modestly—a far cry from eliminating or devaluing debt (Reuters, arXiv).
  • For instance, study shows Tether’s holdings of U.S. T-bills may save the government up to $15 billion per year in interest costs—not wipe out debt (arXiv).

Hypothetical Mechanisms—If One Slipped Through the Legal Net

Even if one imagines a future where debt is converted into stablecoin form, several massive legal, financial, and technical hurdles exist:
  1. Tokenization of Debt Instruments
    • The government (or authorized entities) would issue a token representing a claim on Treasury assets.
  2. Redenomination or Transfer
    • Legal frameworks and accounting rules would be required to reclassify debt as tokenized.
  3. Valuation and Market Dynamics
    • If tokenized instruments trade at a discount or are devalued, that could theoretically reduce the real value of debt on paper—but this risks global destabilization without explicit legislation.
No such mechanism currently exists or is under serious discussion in U.S. policymaking (CoinCentral, Bitget).

Summary Table

Claim by KobyakovU.S. RealityPlausibility
Convert public debt into stablecoins and devalue itNo evidence of such a plan; stablecoins are backed by Treasuries and increase demandVery low—mostly speculative or rhetorical
Stablecoins used to effectively erase part of the debtCurrent policies aim to support demand for Treasuries, not devalue themHighly unlikely without massive legal and monetary changes
Stablecoins could drastically reshape the dollar’s rolePolicymakers see stablecoins as preserving, not undermining, dollarPossible as policy evolves—but no such shift yet

Bottom Line

Kobyakov’s comments appear to be accusatory rhetoric rather than a reflection of concrete planning. While stablecoins and tokenized Treasuries are growing in financial influence, they are currently serving—if anything—as a source of demand and stability for U.S. debt markets, not a means to erase obligations.
If you'd like, I can walk you through how the GENIUS Act works, what legal hurdles would exist for staggering moves like tokenized debt, or how stablecoins' backing in Treasuries affects interest rates.
reply
0 sats \ 0 replies \ @krispy_donkey 9 Sep
Thanks. Does it make sense to you now? It still does not make sense to me. How do you devalue ‘tokenised instruments’ that are denominated in the base currency?
reply
0 sats \ 2 replies \ @Undisciplined 9 Sep
I don't really see why they would go that route, rather than just continuing the soft default of normal money printing.
reply
42 sats \ 1 reply \ @SimpleStacker 9 Sep
I think probably the Russian was just speaking off the cuff, and there's no real concrete plan to use Stablecoins as a subtle default strategy
reply
30 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined 9 Sep
I think it is part of a default strategy, but it's just an extension of the strategy they've been pursuing for the past century rather than a brand new one.
reply
21 sats \ 0 replies \ @Solomonsatoshi 10 Sep
Stablecoins may provide short term relief by creating a demand for USTs when otherwise demand is declining. By creating demand stablecoins help hold interest rates down- but it is only a short term management of a long term problem. If the price of 10year USTs goes much over 5% the spiral begins and could be quite rapid.
US default in some form or other is now almost inevitable- its just a question of what replaces the USD based trade payments and financial systems- and China is already gradually introducing its alternatives.
Stablecoins might be used to some extent (but being tied to a USD that is in obvious decline doesn't make them overly attractive) so with China dominating global trade its more likely the Chinese will dominate in trade payments too. CIPS and mBridge for trade payments are already operational.
Bitcoin may be a marginal safe haven but unlikely to be more than that as nearly all governments are strongly opposed to any competition with their fiat money in MoE.
The decline and fall of western civilisation is not an easy thing to accept, for those of us attached to it, and its extraordinary privileges, but it does appear increasingly likely.
reply