Former President Donald Trump has proposed using cryptocurrency to help address the $35 trillion U.S. national debt. The suggestion, made public this week, marks a notable shift in tone from a politician who once called Bitcoin a scam. It also lands on a day when prediction markets give Bitcoin a 99.9% probability of trading above $54,000.
The debt and digital assets
Trump's proposal doesn't lay out a detailed mechanism — no specific coin, no timeline, no legislative path. But the idea itself is striking: use a volatile, largely unregulated asset class to chip away at a debt load that has ballooned for decades. The $35 trillion figure, which includes intragovernmental holdings, has become a recurring talking point in campaign speeches. Whether crypto can realistically play a role is an open question, but the proposal signals that digital assets are now part of the mainstream political conversation.
Bitcoin's near-term forecast
On the same day Trump's remarks surfaced, a leading prediction market pegged the odds of Bitcoin being above $54,000 on July 23, 2026, at 99.9%. That's not a guarantee — prediction markets have been wrong before — but it reflects a strong consensus among traders that the price floor will hold. The figure is a concrete data point in a debate that often gets abstract. If Bitcoin stays above that level, it would mark a significant recovery from the lows of earlier this year.
No official campaign events have been scheduled to expand on the proposal. The debt figure is expected to remain a central issue in the 2026 election cycle, and Trump's crypto pivot gives opponents and supporters alike a new angle to debate. For now, the market's attention is on whether Bitcoin can hold $54,000 through the end of the day.
