The Hill’s Paul Jossey published a piece in late July 2025 that has me thinking up a storm. The post centered on entrepreneur Elon Musk and his desire to save America by reining in the national debt. Jossey posited that the real solution to America’s fiscal problems is hard money. Then he went on to explain how cryptocurrency could be what turns everything around.
In essence, Jossey takes the position that cryptocurrency is a form of hard money. I don’t know that I agree with him 100%, but I am quickly moving in that direction. The more I think about his arguments, the more I think he may be on to something.
Hard Money in a Traditional Sense
When most people hear the term ‘hard money’, they are not thinking of coins that feel hard to the touch. They are thinking about a form of financing that relies on hard assets as collateral. Hard money is what firms like Salt Lake City’s Actium Lending specialize in.
The thing that makes hard money so distinct from traditional lending is its emphasis on assets. Hard money lending is asset-based lending at the end of the day. Borrowers, usually real estate investors, put up a hard asset in order to obtain loans. The asset is usually the piece of property the investor is trying to obtain.
That asset has value. Its intrinsic value is what motivates lenders to take risks. Even if some of their loans go bad, they have high-value assets in the form of collateral to fall back on. Now, let us apply that to cryptocurrency.
Cryptocurrency Is Asset-Based as Well
One of the criticisms of cryptocurrency is that it has no inherent value, unlike the U.S. dollar (allegedly). That is true of some cryptos, especially meme coins. But it is not true of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and a whole boatload of dollar-based stablecoins. The strength of each of these coins as actual assets is rooted in their limited nature.
To understand this concept, think about the U.S. dollar. It used to be based on what was known as the gold standard. The total amount of cash in circulation could never exceed the total value of gold in U.S. depositories. And since gold was limited, so were dollars.
Nixon eliminated the gold standard back in 1971. He did so in order to allow the government to begin printing endless volumes of cash so that Washington could spend, spend, spend. But the real truth is that the dollar now has no value except the supposed good faith and credit of the federal government. What if Washington goes bankrupt? The dollar’s value plummets.
It has happened before. It happened in Germany, Venezuela, and elsewhere. It could happen here. But let us get back to cryptocurrency.
Limited Coins Mean Something
What gives Bitcoin its real value is the fact that there are only a limited number of coins available. The coin limit was built into the system from day one. It cannot be changed. Limiting coins gives them value because not everyone can own them.
By the way, what makes gold valuable? It has no intrinsic value on its own. It is only valuable because we all agree on that value. And we agree with it because gold is limited in its volume. The same holds true for cryptocurrency. So even though it is digital, it has an intrinsic value based on its rarity.
I am coming closer to the idea that cryptocurrency is hard money. It is an asset with intrinsic value rooted in its limited availability. Perhaps Paul Jossey is right after all.
