Immy Dorse 
Elon Musk is back in the headlines, and once again, it’s about money—just not the kind you’d expect. Since stepping away from his advisory role in the Trump White House, the Tesla CEO has been vocal, maybe even a little obsessive, about two things: bitcoin and the national debt.
And honestly, it’s getting harder to ignore the numbers. The U.S. debt has ballooned to $37 trillion. Interest payments alone are now bigger than the Defense Department’s entire budget. Musk put it bluntly in a recent interview: if artificial intelligence and automation don’t come to the rescue, we’re, well, toast.
Debt, Dollars, and Digital Gold
It’s not just talk. This week’s consumer price index data showed inflation cooling just enough to likely trigger a Fed rate cut next week. That pushed gold to a new inflation-adjusted high—a record that’s held since 1980.
But while gold’s had a stunning 40% rally this year, bitcoin’s been slower to keep up. Even so, some analysts think it’s only a matter of time. “Bitcoin offers something unique in this environment,” said Gadi Chait of Xapo Bank. He pointed to massive inflows into bitcoin ETFs this week—the strongest since July.
It’s not just hedge funds and speculators. There’s a growing sense that traditional finance is looking for a Plan B.
Musk’s Political Pivot and the “America Party”
Then there’s Musk’s political angle. After a very public split from Trump—reportedly over spending disagreements—Musk has been hinting at starting his own political party. Wild rumors swirled that it might even embrace bitcoin.
Turns out, they were true. When an X user asked if the so-called “America Party” would support bitcoin, Musk replied: “Fiat is hopeless, so yes.” The price jumped almost immediately.
It’s part of a broader skepticism he shares about government-backed currency. Back in June, he amplified warnings from Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong that bitcoin could eventually dethrone the dollar as the world’s reserve currency if U.S. spending isn’t reined in.
A Global System Under Strain
This isn’t just a domestic debate. The sheer size of U.S. debt has international observers worried. Some, like an advisor to Putin, have even suggested that the U.S. might try to “rewrite the rules” of the global financial system to ease its debt burden.
It sounds far-fetched. But then again, so did the idea of a sitting president joking about paying off national debt with a “crypto check”—which Trump actually did last year.
Whether any of this leads to real change is anyone’s guess. But one thing’s clear: as debt grows and faith in traditional systems wavers, people are looking for alternatives. And right now, some of them are looking at bitcoin.