The U.S. national debt surpassed $38 trillion in early November, and denoting the stock in bitcoin reveals a larger move than the underlying BTC price since January 20.
The $37 trillion threshold first made news in mid-August, then the next trillion arrived within weeks as issuance continued.
Over the same period, spot BTC has generally traded within the $100,000 to $105,000 band this month, with a January 20 close of $102,082.
Therefore, the unit-of-account lens revealed a larger move in debt than in price at the start of the week. The inauguration day reference price is $102,082, placing today’s level within 10% of that mark.
During that time, the U.S. National Debt rose by $1.9 trillion, reaching $38.126 trillion.
With the debt stock rising by approximately $1.9 trillion since January 20, valuing the change at $103,500 per BTC yields approximately 18.36 million BTC.
As Bitcoin has fallen over 6% since Sani posted his insight, this would work out to 19.8 million BTC at $96,000.
With post-halving issuance near 450 BTC per day, or about 164,250 BTC per year, that single ten-month increase maps to more than a century of new supply.
Flows into and out of U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs add an incremental pressure valve.
U.S. spot ETF flow tallies have been mixed through early November, which matters for the mechanical link between demand, price, and the “debt expressed in BTC” ratio.
The simple math highlights how a fixed-supply asset interacts with a rising liability. Even if BTC trades at $200,000, the debt stock would still equal about 191 million BTC using the current $38.118 trillion level.
That is an order of magnitude above today’s circulating supply of roughly 19 to 20 million coins. On-chain supply inches higher predictably, while the debt numerator can add hundreds of billions within weeks, depending on issuance and cash balances.
Sensitivity to BTC price is straightforward to frame, and the table below shows how the “debt in BTC” number compresses as price rises, holding the latest debt tally constant and rounding to one decimal place for readability.
A practical rule of thumb near current levels is that each $10,000 move in BTC changes the “debt in BTC” figure by roughly 32 to 36 million BTC, a 9–10% shift that is nonlinear across the curve.
The framing is not a claim that the United States could or would repay obligations in bitcoin; rather, it is a unit-of-account lens that compares a fixed-issuance asset with a fiscal path driven by policy and macroeconomic conditions.
The lens is also sensitive to date alignment. Treasury’s daily debt data posts with a lag, so matching the same calendar day for the debt close and the BTCUSD close matters for precision. Different price sources will vary by 1–2%, so stating the source in each calculation helps keep the arithmetic auditable.
Forward, the path of the numerator and denominator will decide whether the chart bends lower. On the numerator, the Treasury’s term structure choices and net new cash needs will determine rollover intensity and the interest cost path into 2026.
According to the refunding statement, approximately 31% of marketable debt has been maturing within 12 months in recent quarters, with an average maturity of nearly six years. This mix keeps bill share and coupon sizing in focus if yields hold near current ranges.
On the denominator, ETF flow regimes can shift quickly, and sustained positive flows would support spot demand, which mechanically reduces the “debt in BTC” ratio. Week-to-week swings remain common as funds and advisers rebalance.
Replicating the math is straightforward. Pull the latest Total Public Debt Outstanding from the Treasury’s Debt to the Penny portal, pull a same-day BTCUSD close from a consistent index, then compute ‘Debt in BTC’ as DebtUSD divided by BTCUSD.
For issuance context, use 450 BTC per day post-halving. This method yields the 368.3 million BTC figure at a $103,500 price on a $38.118 trillion debt base, and the roughly 18.36 million BTC equivalent of the year-to-date increase when mapped at the same price.
What to watch over the next quarter is the mix at Treasury’s auctions, any change in net new cash targets, the evolution of ETF flows, and the subsequent CBO updates as FY26 tax debates resume.
A move in any of those inputs will show up in either the numerator or the denominator.
According to the Treasury’s November statement, the current refunding raised $26.8 billion in new cash while refunding $98.2 billion coming due.
