Can Bitcoin Solve the US Student Debt Crisis?
US President Joe Biden recently announced a student debt and Pell Grant relief program. President Biden intends to cancel $10,000 of federal student debt for individuals making less than $125,000. Also, the US president aims to forgive $20,000 in debt for low- and middle-income individuals under the Pell Grant program. However, a Bitcoin (BTC) advocate has suggested that the president give students $10,000 worth of BTC.
Dennis Porter, CEO of the NPO (non-profit organization) Satoshi Action Fund, believes that Bitcoin adoption could be a solution to the US student debt problem. Porter suggests that President Biden give each debtor $10k worth of BTC and lock the amount for ten years via a smart contract. Porter believes that after ten years BTC would be enough for the students to pay off their debt.
However, Porter’s proposal met with some backlash. First, many called out Porter’s proposal to use smart contracts, which are absent in Bitcoin. Others said that BTC is not the solution to everything. Nevertheless, Porter stood by his opinion. Some might even say that for Porter’s proposal to work, it would require BTC to grow continuously.
Can Bitcoin Solve the Student Debt Crisis?
First and foremost, many criticisms of Porter’s proposal can be countered. For example, using Bitcoin’s Lighting Network can enable smart contract capabilities.
Moreover, the asset has more than proven itself in the case of BTC which is continuously growing, given its historical increase. Bitcoin has always gone beyond its previous highs. Since 2010, BTC has had a ROI (Return on Investment) of over 30,000%, far more than any other asset.
Additionally, if the US president were to make such a move, it would bring in another level of confidence in the asset, thus giving it much more stability.
Nevertheless, there may be cases where such an investment may turn sour. For example, the 2022 crash wiped out 58% of BTC’s value. But in this case, there are bigger things at stake than just the asset. Fiat money and stocks also took a hit in 2022. Inflation figures are the highest in decades, and the fuel and energy crisis has hit almost every nation worldwide. However, analysts expect BTC to climb back up. Many predict that the next bull run will happen sometime in 2024, and others predict that BTC will soon touch 6 figures.
Giving a certain amount of Bitcoin to students would not only help them pay off their debt, but would leave something extra for them. This will make the students financially stable, which leads to more entrepreneurial work.
At press time, BTC was trading at $21,710.16, up 0.9% in the last 24 hours.
