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Brian Armstrong co-founded Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN) in 2012 and turned it into the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States within a span of a few years.

The billionaire, best known for aggressively pushing for clearer crypto regulation in Washington, doesn't shy away from voicing his opinion, whether it's the U.S. economy or global poverty.

On July 1, Armstrong wrote a lengthy post on X as the U.S. debt reached over $39 trillion. He claimed that though the American constitution is the "most important political innovation ever," it lacks two things:

A cap on rising government spending

A requirement for hard-backed currency

The Coinbase CEO's criticism isn't new. Even Elon Musk has previously flagged the soaring U.S. debt and the unlimited printing of the fiat currency, arguing that Bitcoin (BTC), unlike traditional money, is based on energy and cannot be faked.

Fiat currency, on the other hand, can be printed without any limit, which leads to the debasement of its value. But Bitcoin, because of its scarce supply, tends to hold its value for long.

Armstrong further argued that the lack of fiscal safeguards pushes every democracy towards more debt and eventual loss of reserve currency status.

While politicians get elected by promising "free stuff" using "other people's money," some voters get immediate benefits, but future generations suffer the brunt of the spending, he decried. It must be noted that it's the disadvantaged sections of the populace who receive welfare benefits funded by taxpayers' money.

"The incentive structure is broken. What fixes it?" Armstrong wrote.

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As per the Coinbase CEO, there are three alternative solutions to fix the political economy.

Write a new constitution for a new frontier on Mars, or special economic zones, or cyberspace. 

Add a politically challenging amendment to the constitution so that government spending and debt are better aligned.

Pursue a hyper-economic growth model involving artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and crypto to beat inflation.

Armstrong's third proposal is something even Musk has been arguing for. As per Musk, the AI age will be so productive that there will be such an abundance of goods and services that prices will decline, leading to deflation.

As far as the U.S. debt is concerned, the exact figure is $39.3 trillion currently, as per the U.S. Treasury.

Related: U.S. government reveals unique way to reduce soaring $39T debt

This story was originally published by TheStreet on Jul 4, 2026, where it first appeared in the MARKETS section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.