Russia Flags U.S. Plans to Reset $37 Trillion Debt With Stablecoins

• Putin aide says U.S. could reset $37T debt with stablecoins, sparking global trust concerns.
• Analysts warn shifting Treasuries into stablecoins would amount to default, not a reset.
• Russia eyes ruble-backed stablecoin as U.S. GENIUS Act boosts regulated dollar supremacy.

A senior advisor to Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the United States of planning to use cryptocurrencies, especially dollar-backed stablecoins, to reset its national debt.

Anton Kobyakov, who spoke at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok earlier this month, claimed Washington is trying to “rewrite the rules” of gold and crypto markets to address its $37 trillion debt burden. 

According to him, the US intends to migrate debt into stablecoins, devalue it, and “start from scratch.”

Kobyakov’s Warning on Dollar Dominance

Kobyakov argued that the U.S. has “no choice” but to lean on emerging financial instruments like stablecoins to offset its rising debt burden. He warned this approach would shift America’s fiscal problems onto the global economy, eroding trust in the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. 

He linked the alleged strategy to a broader effort to exploit the rise of crypto and gold markets to extend U.S. dominance at the expense of rivals like Russia and China.

Analysts Dismiss Debt Reset Theory as Unrealistic

Crypto experts, however, are skeptical. Moving trillions of dollars of US government debt into stablecoins would be legally and technically difficult, they note. 

Treasuries are contracts, and re-labeling them as digital assets could be seen as a default. Moreover, most major stablecoins such as Tether (USDT) and Circle’s USDC are issued by private companies, not the US government. 

Analysts argue that while a US-backed digital dollar is possible in the future, simply using stablecoins to erase debt is unrealistic.

Related: Russia’s Wildberries Lets Shoppers Pay with Bitcoin in Belarus

U.S. Embraces Regulation, Russia Builds Its Own System

The Trump administration has taken a more open approach to digital assets, passing the GENIUS Act this year to regulate stablecoin issuance and trading.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said stablecoins could strengthen US dollar supremacy. At the same time, Russia is building its own digital infrastructure. 

The country’s finance ministry is developing a ruble-backed stablecoin and a regulatory framework for crypto use in trade, revealed Kobyakov while adding that Moscow has also set up a legal “sandbox” for cross-border settlements and crypto derivatives.

Related: Russia Proposes Easing of Crypto Rules to Boost Adoption Among Retail Investor