Can a meme coin capture a crisis?
This was the question we aimed to explore.
On May 19, 2023, amidst the frenzied rally of $PEPE, we pondered the existence of a cryptocurrency that could encapsulate an economic phenomenon, the U.S. national debt — and thus, USDEBT was conceived. To mirror the soaring U.S. national debt, we minted 32 trillion coins, embodying the mantra, #ItOnlyGoesUp!
What began as a lighthearted jab at the U.S. debt’s mismanagement has evolved into a profound experiment over the past nine months.
Can a meme coin indeed encapsulate a crisis? When we introduced USDEBT, the U.S. debt was already on an upward trajectory, fueled by high-interest rates and sustained deficit spending from decades of oversight. Then, the advent of Covid-19 further exacerbated the debt.
Between 2008 and 2022, the U.S. debt’s growth rate was 8.6%, marking a 25% increase from previous decades. However, since the inception of USDEBT, the national debt’s growth rate has surged by nearly 60%, reaching an annualized rate of over 12.5%.
We are now at a critical juncture. Debt service payments are projected to surpass $1 trillion in the upcoming year, becoming the second-largest expenditure for the U.S. government, exceeding even the defense budget.
While there are numerous animal-themed coins, the USDEBT community believes in the necessity of an economic meme coin that symbolizes and is directly tied to the crisis.
Can a fixed-supply meme coin, inherently linked to the escalating crisis, capture the fervor, emotional engagement, and magnitude of the U.S. debt crisis?
We are on a journey to discover this.