The US Treasury has enabled PayPal and Venmo payments for voluntary public debt contributions via its Pay.gov platform as efforts to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve remain stalled in Congress.
The update highlights the scale mismatch between public donations averaging about $120,000 per month and a national debt nearing $39 trillion, with monthly interest payments alone around $88 billion.
“I introduced the Six Penny Plan because the answer to our debt crisis isn’t complicated, cut six cents off every dollar, balance the budget in five years, protect your children’s future, the only thing standing in the way is Washington’s refusal to live within its means,”
Said Senator Rand Paul.
The “Gifts to Reduce the Public Debt” programme, established in 1961 under federal law, has accumulated roughly $67 million since 1996, with February 2026 contributions reaching only about $30,000.
Bitcoin advocates have pointed to alternative strategies such as the BITCOIN Act of 2025, introduced by Senator Cynthia Lummis, which proposes acquiring 1 million BTC over five years to strengthen sovereign reserves.
Asset manager VanEck estimates that a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve could reduce US debt by 36% by 2050 under a scenario where Bitcoin grows to represent 18% of global financial assets.
Despite an executive order under President Donald Trump outlining a reserve funded by forfeited assets, missed deadlines and lack of congressional funding leave the US balancing symbolic donations against stalled crypto-based fiscal strategies.
At the time of reporting, Bitcoin price was $78,429.09.