Japan’s financial markets are sending out a warning siren, not just for Tokyo, but for the rest of the world. The Bank of Japan (BOJ), once famous for almost endless money printing, is taking the first steps toward unwinding its massive interventions. In short, Japan’s debt dilemma is coming to a head.
This week, the BOJ announced that it will begin selling off its hefty holdings of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), over 79 trillion yen (more than $500 billion). That’s a move no major central bank has tried at this scale before, and it’s sending ripples through global financial markets.
And here’s the bigger problem. Japan’s debt has ballooned to around 1,324 trillion yen, or nearly 235% of its entire economy (GDP). No other developed nation comes close. The yield on its 10-year government bonds now sits above 1.6%, a level unseen for decades.
Higher rates mean it’s costing Japan even more to just pay the interest, let alone chip away at the debt itself.
Why Japan’s debt dilemma matters for the U.S.
While Japan scrambles to manage its giant debt burden, the U.S. faces a similar but even bigger storm on the horizon. As of September 2025, America’s national debt has soared past $37 trillion. That’s over $100,000 for every man, woman, and child in the country, and it stands at about 120% of GDP.
The Treasury has started buying back its own bonds in an effort to keep the market functioning and to contain borrowing costs.
There’s talk about the U.S. adopting Japan-style yield curve control, which would mean artificially capping long-term interest rates to manage its mountain of debt.
As Lyn Alden explained in her “Nothing Stops This Train” thesis, this isn’t a problem that’s easily reversed: U.S. fiscal deficits are on autopilot, and political gridlock makes big spending cuts or tax hikes almost impossible right now.
Both countries are facing the hard truth that their debts may never actually be paid off. In this environment, the old faith in paper currencies can start to falter. That’s why more and more investors are looking toward hard money alternatives: assets that can’t be printed at will, like bitcoin or gold.
Lyn Alden’s thesis is central to this narrative: the world’s largest economies are caught on a fiscal track they can’t simply jump off. In her view, and increasingly in the eyes of savvy investors, assets like bitcoin become not just speculative plays but potential safe havens in an era of unstoppable government spending and monetary intervention.
The big picture
What’s happening with Japan is more than a local crisis. It’s a preview of the challenges developed economies everywhere could face if they continue to paper over deficits with central bank support.
Unless structural reform happens, the trend toward hard money could accelerate, and the cracks in the global financial order might widen further. This leads many to question to wisdom of the Fed and, indeed, whether central banks should exist at all. As Austrian economist Peter St. Onge commented:
“The Fed was sold as ending recessions, bank panics, and protecting the dollar. Instead, it delivered 15 recessions. 4 banking crises. And a dollar worth 3 cents.”
Japan’s debt story is a stark reminder of what’s at stake for advanced economies skating on fiscal thin ice. With the burden now nearing $9 trillion, Japan’s balancing act is becoming harder by the day, especially as interest costs creep higher and investors grow more cautious. As the world watches, Japan stands as a cautionary tale for all nations tempted to borrow without limits.
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