The US national debt is several times greater than the value of all physical cash, and thousands of times the value of Bitcoin.
Standing at around $19.5 trillion, the debt accrued by the US federal government amounts to significantly more than the combined value of all the world’s physical cash, gold, silver, and cryptocurrency. Those four combined barely cover two-thirds of the US national debt, leaving the daunting task of debt reduction.
Bitcoin is still a small player in the global financial world
Besides the staggering level of US debt, what this fact reveals is how new and minor a player Bitcoin still is in the global economy. The leading cryptocurrency is worth a fraction of a percent of all physical cash in existence, and at present has a 24-hour transaction volume of about $50 million. By comparison, in 2010, Visa processed daily transactions worth over 100 times that.
If Bitcoin’s current role in the global economy is small, that of other cryptocurrencies is even more miniscule. While on a general upward trend, alternative cryptocurrencies combined make up barely 20% of the category’s market capitalization. Ethereum, the number two cryptocurrency, only ranks at around 11% of Bitcoin’s combined value and less than half its volume, while the next top 13 cryptocurrencies combined barely equal Ethereum.
The US may be due for another recession soon
To make matters worse, in addition to the ever-increasing national debt, Americans may soon have to worry about getting through a recession as well. Several key indicators, including stalled sales in farm machinery and transportation, show that a recession may be right around the corner.
Globally, the central banks of some of the world’s key economic players have called on the government for help in saving their respective economies. The EU in particular may be heading for a breakup, according to the Vice-Chancellor of Germany, as a result of the UK’s exit from the Union.