We attended Anthony Scaramucci's SALT Blockchain Conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins was supposed to speak at the Conference but instead stayed in Washington and delayed a planned Friday, August 14, 2026, release of Regulation Crypto Assets to Tuesday, August 18, so that the President could convene a Wednesday, August 19, command performance at the White House. Key participants in Jackson Hole diverted to DC to attend a hastily called meeting at the White House. While the attendee list was not published, it included Washington heavyweights (President Trump, SEC Chair Atkins, CFTC Chair Selig, White House crypto advisor Patrick Witt, who had also just spoken in Jackson Hole), key crypto CEOs/Founders (Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, Gemini co-founders the Winklevoss twins, Kraken Co-CEO Arjun Sethi and Chainlink Co-founder Sergey Nazarov) and the stalwart institutions of U.S. markets (ICE/NYSE, NASDAQ, CME, DTCC).
While in Jackson Hole, it was announced that the U.S. national debt broke the $40 trillion mark, or approximately 123% of GDP. America's debt burden is rising faster than estimates and faster than peers, exacerbated by persistent deficits and soaring interest payments. Many countries are refusing to address aging populations and declining birth rates. Among the G20, the United States now ranks third for government debt-to-GDP, surpassed only by Japan (~249%) and Italy (~138%); Singapore (~172%) is higher still but is not a G20 member. Not far behind the U.S. are France (~116%), Canada (~114%), Spain (~101%), China (~107%) and the United Kingdom (~100%).
Much discussion in Jackson Hole centered around fiat debasement — the fear that an oncoming inflationary storm could erode the dollar's purchasing power and the value of U.S. financial assets. The term "debasement trade" was coined by JP Morgan analysts in October of 2024 when they argued that a Republican sweep of the White House and both houses of Congress would be bullish for gold and bitcoin due to expansionary fiscal policy trumpeted by Republicans.
Jackson Hole participants were keen to point out that U.S. inflation is at 3.4% year-over-year and in its sixth consecutive year above the Fed's 2% target.
The week ended August 21, 2026, may be looked at as a turning point in markets: The national debt crossed $40 trillion. Long-term Treasury yields reached a nearly two-decade high. Crypto was resoundingly legitimized by the Trump Administration. Bitcoin and gold surged as investors sought assets perceived as protection.
Bitcoin's roughly 23% advance on the week was driven by four catalysts that reinforced each other: (i) the publishing of proposed Regulation Crypto Assets in the Federal Register on Tuesday (open for a 60-day comment period), (ii) the White House "Crypto meeting" on Wednesday, August 19, (iii) Trump's comments after that meeting urging the Senate to pass the CLARITY Act, and (iv) the Treasury's bond-buyback intervention that weakened the dollar. The move was much broader than BTC and included ETH, Solana and XRP, while stocks such as Coinbase, Robinhood and Strategy all rallied sharply.
The debt and stock markets were mostly a sea of red. Treasury is struggling to finance very large issuance volumes while AI infrastructure spending is adding a larger and larger supply of corporate bonds. Inflation remains above target; oil prices promise to put further pressure on inflation because of the continued instability with Iran. The 30-year Treasury finished near 5.28%. The Treasury intervened to buy back bonds, but without changing the underlying deficit, inflation, or supply, markets see the intervention as both inflationary and dollar-negative.
We believe that the U.S. Government's push on crypto and stablecoins is driven by a desire to increase the demand for the U.S. dollar.
Housing starts fell 12.4%, and single-family construction reached its lowest level since late 2022. This will not help lower the age of the first-time home buyer (40) or increase the birth rate.
Finally, on August 28, 2026, there was a rally in the U.S. Dollar as Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh, who seemingly followed us to Jackson Hole for the Fed's annual symposium, turned hawkish on interest rates.
David Weild IV, Chairman of the Board, Dignity Gold
The views expressed are those of the author and are provided for informational purposes only. They do not constitute investment, financial, or tax advice, or an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security or digital asset. Certain statements are forward-looking and subject to change without notice.
