The Demise of the US Dollar and Its Possible Replacement

 

 

The 1933 abrogation of the gold clause in Treasury securities is considered a historical example of a unilateral debt restructuring. Is the next unilateral debt restructuring the abrogation of the dollar for cryptocurrency?

An AI chatbot states:

“The next unilateral debt restructuring could indeed be seen as a potential step towards abrogating the dollar for cryptocurrency.

The Enlightened Debt Restructuring option previously discussed herein is based on the continued  primacy of the US dollar which appears to be a non-starter as the sole solution because of  resistance to announcing that the US government is on a nonreversible path to bankruptcy and the resistance  associated with the actions needed to implement a debt restructuring program.

An emerging likely possibility. CRE is no stranger to the  design and implementation of  some of the most significant changes to the federal regulatory regime made in the 20th century. It is likely that an alternative to adopting the traditional route to national bankruptcy–the inflationary path of simply printing more currency–will emerge. The likely alternative will be to have the United States implement a strategy based upon the replacement of the dollar with cryptocurrency. The resulting debate would  be extremely divisive because each of the aforementioned alternatives will have a number of different winners and losers.

A number of players have concluded that (1) US bankruptcy could occur in the next twenty years and (2) if cryptocurrency is to be taken seriously, actions must be taken immediately to demonstrate that it is a workable solution.  The bargaining is underway, the challenge is to make the public part of it. To this end, CRE will report on very significant actions on this page.

                                                          ChatGPT Appendix
1. The 1933 Abrogation as a Unilateral Debt Restructuring

The 1933 abrogation of the gold clause (through the Gold Clause Cases, especially Perry v. United States, 294 U.S. 330 (1935)) is often cited by economists and legal scholars as an example of unilateral debt restructuring.

  • The U.S. government, facing the Great Depression and deflation, invalidated contractual obligations to pay in gold or gold-equivalent value.

  • This effectively reduced the real value of federal (and private) debt obligations by ending convertibility and devaluing the dollar.

  • Creditors were compelled to accept payment in “paper dollars” instead of gold dollars — a restructuring by fiat.

2. What Would “Abrogation of the Dollar for Cryptocurrency” Mean?

If we think of an “abrogation of the dollar” as a government decision to move away from the dollar as the unit of account, store of value, and medium of exchange, and to substitute a digital or crypto-based unit, then it could indeed represent a modern analog to the 1933 abrogation — though in a new technological and monetary context.

That shift could take several forms:

  • Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) replacing physical cash and Treasury securities.

  • De-dollarization or a global reduction in reliance on the U.S. dollar, potentially accelerated by competing digital currencies.

  • A revaluation or conversion of existing dollar-denominated obligations into a new digital unit (e.g., 1 “digital dollar” = X current dollars).

If such a conversion occurred without full market consent or equivalent value, it could absolutely constitute a unilateral restructuring of U.S. debt, much as 1933 did.

3. Key Parallels
1933 Abrogation Potential “Dollar-to-Digital” Shift
Gold clause contracts voided Dollar contracts potentially redenominated
Paper money replaces gold Digital token replaces paper and reserves
Inflation/devaluation follows Revaluation or “reset” risk in conversion
Sovereign act justified by economic emergency Could be justified by technology, inflation, or fiscal instability
4. Key Difference

In 1933, the U.S. acted within a gold-based monetary system that it still largely controlled.
In contrast, if the dollar were replaced or weakened by decentralized or global digital assets, the U.S. could be losing, not asserting, monetary sovereignty — a different kind of restructuring, possibly market-forced rather than government-declared.


In summary:
If the U.S. government were to unilaterally redenominate or devalue its dollar-based obligations in favor of a new digital currency, especially under conditions of financial stress, it could indeed be seen as the next great unilateral debt restructuring — analogous to 1933.
However, if the change were gradual, voluntary, and value-preserving, it would be more of a monetary evolution than a restructuring.

 NB  Is regulation of cryptocurrency by either the US or other countries forthcoming?

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Absence Of A National Corrective Action Leads To The Piecemeal Demise of Federal Programs

The Federal Reserve Board should have a far greater role than stabilizing the drift of a sinking ship. To some, the multi-decade journey of the United States to bankruptcy need not be taken as an end all event because many conclude that the United States will merely be duplicating the experience of the Romans, Germans and Russians. Nonetheless, for a number of years CRE (Center for Regulatory Effectiveness) has been broadcasting the need for urgent actions to address our nation’s irreversible movement towards bankruptcy. We continue to support the statements of our predecessors who have made these statements for decades and continue to do so but we  also emphasize that prevailing conditions are so perilous that we must immediately extend our sights beyond problem identification to problem solving.

That said, with the emergence of the lust for spending during the onset of the 21st century we have  been  unsuccessful in defining any significant  traction for a specific solution to runaway spending, meaning that we need to be precise  when moving from the diagnosis to the treatment of the pending bankruptcy of the US government. Yes, we agree with the need to increase national income and decrease federal expenditures but these statements in themselves  do not constitute a meaningful solution to the problem.

We now have proposed one potential solution titled an “Enlightened Debt Restructuring Program” which has been reviewed by leading analysts in and outside of government and so explained on the website of the Center for Regulatory Effectiveness. The nationwide reaction to our proposal, with few exceptions, is: “is this draconian solution really needed?”Our reaction is that we are not recommending that our proposed solution be implemented at this time but instead merely requesting that it be reviewed by the Federal Reserve Board who would issue a report to the public on its strengths and weaknesses should a control mechanism be needed in the future. 

The aforementioned review could spark a national interest in reducing federal spending based upon an immediate and simultaneous review of all programs  instead of waiting until it is too late to do so which usually compels a piecemeal review. Hopefully such a review would diminish support for the prevailing alternative of simply issuing more currency and allowing inflation to go unchecked.

 It should be noted that the Debt Restructuring we have under consideration is considerably more expansive than that used when all the participants are private firms as opposed to a mix of governmental and non-governmental entities. In particular, concerns such as income inequality and unfunded obligations are not presently included in traditional deficit analyses and their absence would preclude any definitive action on the matter; more specifically with respect to unfounded obligations the absence of any action to address continued payments for Social Security and Medicare is a non-starter.

Several–far from all– of the participants in this trailblazing effort have identified major deficiencies in the existing program and have developed even stronger demands for corrective actions, but at the same time  have proposed no solution to the problem and have resisted any recognition of the proposal set forth herein:  All Hat-No Cattle.

Should CRE Explore The Possibility of Utilizing A Cryptocurrency As A Hedge To US Bankruptcy?

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Why The Federal Reserve Board?
Because it is the only agency that can increase the nation’s money supply.

 

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Ray Dalio warns U.S. could face a surprise debt-crisis ‘heart attack’ within three years                                                                                                                          
You could see that the government could say that they’re going to restructure the debt.”

 

A Public Comment
 ” The problem with “Debt Restructuring” is that it requires pain. Any effort to correct this problem will require significant economic pain. Americans refuse to accept economic pain, and they will vote out any politician that brings them pain, even if it poses well meaning pain aimed at eliminating the massive deficit and Fed balance sheet. This makes getting our fiscal house in order a political non-starter in Congress, where the action must take place. No cuts to Social Security or Medicare for these people. Most Americans would rather kick the can down the road, collect their government checks, and let future generations deal with their mess.”

 

Editor’s Notes:
We welcome your comments by utilizing this page.
Those interested in contacting the Federal Reserve Board may use this link.

 

An Example
Depending on the severity of the event, if a nation were to address bankruptcy by utilizing   the historical  response of issuing of additional currency, then it is possible that 401 K’s could  be worth only a fraction of their original value.

 

07/05/2025

                                                                                                        

 

 

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