Can America’s Alleged Shift Toward Crypto Debt Trigger the Next Global Financial Crisis? | Economy

As global debt levels soar and confidence in fiat systems declines, a viral narrative has resurfaced: the idea that the United States may someday use digital currencies — specifically stablecoins — to restructure or even devalue its $38 trillion national debt.

This idea was recently amplified by comments attributed to Anton Kobyakov, an economic advisor to Vladimir Putin, who alleged that Washington could migrate federal debt obligations “into the crypto cloud” and later reprice them by altering the value mechanism underlying US -regulated stablecoins, in early September 2025 at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, said a Binance report.

The claim is speculative and unsupported by public evidence. Yet the combination of:

…has made the scenario worth examining — not because it is likely, but because even the fear of it could destabilize global markets.

This article lays out the facts, the plausible mechanisms, and how this could theoretically trigger the next global financial crisis.

I. The Historical Pattern: America’s Monetary “Reset” Playbook

To understand why the new crypto speculation resonates, one must revisit how the United States has previously used monetary policy to protect its economy at moments of extreme stress.

1. The 1934 Gold Revaluation — A Legal, Overnight Devaluation of the Dollar

In 1934, the Gold Reserve Act raised the dollar price of gold from $20.67 to $35 per troy ounce — a 69% increase.

What this meant in practice:

This was not a covert trick — but it was a unilateral reset that redistributed wealth across the world.

2. Bretton Woods, De Gaulle, and the 1971 “Nixon Shock”

After World War II, the US convinced allies to peg their currencies to the dollar, which itself was tied to gold at $35/oz. This created the dollar-gold standard.

But by the 1960s, foreign central banks held more dollars than the US had gold to redeem. France openly demanded gold in exchange for its dollars, draining US reserves.

In 1971, with gold cover collapsing, President Nixon abruptly ended dollar-gold convertibility.

This move:

3. The “Petrodollar” Era of the 1970s

After the oil shocks, the US struck strategic agreements with Saudi Arabia and other OPEC states: oil would be sold only in dollars.

This maneuver:

Once again, a structural reset preserved US dominance.

These three historical moves create a pattern: When global confidence collapses, the US uses systemic “resets” — not repayment — to preserve monetary power.

II. 2025: Debt Levels, Dollar Volatility, and the Digital Twist

Today, two conditions resemble earlier periods of financial stress:

This last development is key. It creates a legal bridge between:

This bridge is what fuels the current speculation.

III. The Speculated “Debt Shift” — Could It Actually Happen?

The allegation: The US could someday push its federal liabilities into a digital-dollar system through stablecoins, and then “re-denominate” their value by altering peg rules — for example:

Stablecoin ratio today: 1 Stablecoin = $1 USD

A future US could legally revalue this: 10 Stablecoins = $1 USD (or any ratio)

Such a move would:

Is this happening now? No.

Is it openly planned? No.

Is it technically and legally impossible? Not completely.

A stablecoin’s peg is a policy choice, not a law of nature. A government can change policy.

This theoretical flexibility is what alarms macro analysts.

IV. How Such a Shift Could Trigger the Next Global Financial Crisis

Even if the US never intends to execute such a strategy, the mere perception that it might could destabilize global markets.

Here’s how:

1. Collapse in Stablecoin Confidence

Stablecoins — especially dollar-backed ones — underpin:

If global investors fear the US might someday revalue stablecoins, they would dump:

This could freeze liquidity across $300 billion of digital assets almost instantly.

2. Shockwaves Into Treasury Markets

Stablecoins are typically backed by short-term US Treasuries. If stablecoin issuers face mass redemptions:

This creates a 2025 version of the Lehman moment, driven by digital runs instead of mortgage derivatives.

3. Institutional Adoption Would Backfire

Major banks, payment firms, and asset managers are already exploring stablecoin rails.

If confidence collapses:

4. Emergence of a Multi-Currency Fragmentation

If countries fear a US digital monetary reset, they may accelerate alternatives:

Fragmentation of the global financial system would increase volatility and reduce dollar dominance.

This could mirror the instability of the interwar period, where nations abandoned gold at different times, causing chaotic exchange rates and crashes.

5. Global Credit Freeze

If the world loses trust in:

…global credit could freeze.

International banks depend on dollar funding. A shock to dollar liquidity could:

This is the classic recipe for a global financial crisis.

So, Is a US Digital Debt Reset Coming?

There is no evidence the US government plans to migrate or devalue its debt using stablecoins.

But history teaches three important lessons:

The world’s financial system is now deeply intertwined with stablecoins. A structural change in the value mechanism of these coins — even a rumor — could generate global shockwaves.

In short:

The speculation that the US might someday devalue its national debt through a digital “stablecoin reset” is fueled not by evidence but by history. Every few decades, global monetary systems undergo structural shifts — and they almost always originate in moments of extreme stress.

Today, with the US debt load at historic highs and the world experimenting with blockchain-based money, even hypothetical policy shifts carry systemic risk.

Whether or not such a plan ever materializes, the new digital plumbing of global finance makes the system more fragile, and more sensitive to trust. A single announcement, or even a credible rumor, could be enough to ignite the next global financial crisis.