Dogecoin co-founder Billy Markus proposed an unconventional alternative to traditional stimulus spending, suggesting the U.S. government purchase $1.2 trillion worth of Dogecoin and distribute it to Americans. The proposal came as a jocular response to discussions surrounding potential government payments to citizens.
Markus, who posts on X as Shibetoshi Nakamoto, framed the idea as a departure from conventional stimulus approaches. The timing of the remark coincided with renewed discussions about potential government payments to American adults.
Market Reality and Feasibility Challenges
Dogecoin currently holds the 12th position by cryptocurrency market capitalization, with a market value of approximately $13.2 billion and a circulating supply of roughly 155.88 billion DOGE. A $1.2 trillion government purchase would exceed the token's current market value by more than 90 times.
While Dogecoin has no fixed supply cap that would technically prevent such a purchase, acquiring DOGE on that scale would likely cause significant price appreciation and present substantial execution challenges. The proposal underscores the gap between the theoretical size of government spending and the actual capacity of smaller cryptocurrency markets to absorb such purchases.
Government Cryptocurrency Holdings
The U.S. government has already established cryptocurrency holdings through other means. In March 2025, an executive order created a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a Digital Asset Stockpile, funded with Bitcoin already held by the government through seizures and forfeiture proceedings rather than through large market purchases.
No comparable official Dogecoin reserve exists, and no government mandate calls for accumulating the meme coin. At the time of the proposal, Dogecoin was trading at $0.08467, up 0.5% over the previous 24 hours according to market data.
