US debt-to-GDP has pushed past 120%, and Jack Mallers thinks the debate over whether the Fed hikes or cuts is beside the point, both roads lead to inflation. The Strike founder and CEO joins Bitcoin Magazine to explain why he told investors to study Japan, where outright yield curve control and central planning intervention are now required to hold the currency together. He argues the US is heading to the same place and that Bitcoin, as the asset most sensitive to fiat liquidity, is the fastest horse in that environment. Mallers also breaks down Strike's shift into Bitcoin-backed lending and w...
What Jack Mallers said
Written from the verified transcript and checked against it. Every figure links to the moment it was said.
Jack Mallers discussed Strike's evolution into a Bitcoin bank offering a full stack of financial services including savings, borrowing, and bill payments. He emphasized Bitcoin as a superior savings asset due to inflation and high debt-to-GDP ratios, pointing to Japan's yield curve control as a warning. Mallers argued that US Treasury stress is entirely due to unsustainable debt, and Bitcoin will benefit as fiat liquidity expands. He noted Strike's lending business is growing fastest, with loans starting around 7.5%, serving customers with significant Bitcoin holdings. He dismissed other assets, favoring Bitcoin over gold for its scarcity. Mallers also shared his philosophical view that Bitcoin and AI will free people from financial drudgery, allowing for creativity and innovation. He mentioned that Trey Sellers from Unchained will lead the private wealth division to serve high-net-worth clients.
Key takeaways
Strike's lending business is the most popular product and growing fastest, with loans against Bitcoin starting at 7.5%.
US Treasury stress is entirely caused by unsustainable debt-to-GDP over 120%, leading to yield curve control and inflation.
Bitcoin is more scarce than gold and thus a better store of value, despite implied volatility.
Strike expects to see more customers seeking Bitcoin-backed loans as Bitcoin's market cap grows from $1.5 trillion to $10 trillion.
Strike's revenue will grow year-over-year even through bear markets, driven by lending and other verticals.
Numbers and commitments
Figure
What it refers to
Type
At
7.5%
Starting interest rate for Bitcoin-backed loans at Strike
2:38How much of the kind of US Treasury stress that we're seeing right now do you think is caused by that?
4:03Do you think we're in the early innings still or do you think that we continue to kind of accelerate here?
5:13... we're in combined with AI innovation and the decompression happening there and the deflationary effects and Bitcoin monetizing, are there any other assets or business models that stand to benefit from that or is it truly Bitcoin only?
6:33Do you guys see an acceleration on that as well?
8:36But you know, do you see people moving over to strike even through bear markets like this or is this one of those things there might be seasonality to people still when it comes to Bitcoin is money?
11:12So, how would you summarize the correlation between Bitcoin and art?
And who needs no introduction. He's the founder and CEO of Strike and one of the most prolific Bitcoiners out there. He joins us today to talk all things Strike, Macro, and the future of Bitcoin as currency and capital. Jack Mallers, welcome to BMTV. Great to have you.
Thanks so much. And thanks for joining us on day one. So let's talk about you a little bit. It's been about a month now since you left 21 to refocus on Strike. What are you most excited to be building?
I mean, Strike's been my baby and we build core Bitcoin financial services because increasingly Bitcoin's becoming a part of everyone's financial life. Meaning, I think we're living in this almost dual currency where people still go around and spend fiat and credit cards aren't going away anytime soon. But where do people save wealth? It's becoming obvious. Inflation is a mainstream term nowadays and it's becoming obvious that you cannot save in things like the dollar and Bitcoin is increasingly a savings account for folks. So Strike is unique in that we give a full stack of financial services. If you need to acquire Bitcoin, you can buy and sell. If you need to custody Bitcoin, we do it for free. We also let you borrow against your Bitcoin. We also let you pay bills with your Bitcoin or the loans you're taking against your Bitcoin. So, we're becoming a bit of a Bitcoin bank, so to speak. And I'm excited about that because at the margins we're hopefully building towards hyper bitcoinization.
So you recently announced that Trey Sellers formerly of Unchained is joining Strike to lead the private wealth division. What does he bring to the team?
So it's actually fascinating. Strike started out as an almost retail focused, lightning focused actually this many many years ago but as I mentioned we're becoming this Bitcoin bank of sorts and in part with that is high net worth individuals, businesses, institutions come to us for core financial services. We're one of the cheapest Bitcoin backed lenders in the world or one of the cheapest places to acquire Bitcoin and people want that high concierge, white glove, high touch service and Trey gives us that. Ultimately Bitcoin is a wealth transfer. And that implies something obvious that people miss sometimes is there's existing wealth, analog wealth that needs to demonetize real estate, an equity portfolio of stocks, private credit, and move into Bitcoin and they want to get on the phone. People that want to take a $50 million loan, they don't want to do it on a mobile app. They want to shake someone's hand and talk to them. And that's what Trey brings us as we grow out of this kind of retail brand and into more of a trusted institution.
The math side of things, you recently put out a video where you're encouraging investors to study Japan and how much you know that Canadian system is cracking over there. How much of the kind of US Treasury stress that we're seeing right now do you think is caused by that?
All of it. Listen, I don't think people appreciate, you know, we look at history and we say yeah but in the 1970s or well if you take a look at the 90s yeah but at no point in history, well at least recent history, have we been in debt to GDP at over 120%. This level of debt is unsustainable. So when people debate oh well what if they hike rates, what if they cut rates, it doesn't matter, it's all inflationary and it's all untenable. And what I meant by take a look at Japan. Japan was the Keynesian example of well look at they've survived such high debt to GDP. They've had no issues. So don't look at the other 50 cases throughout history that have utterly and completely collapsed and defaulted either through outright default or inflation of the currency. Let's just take a look at Japan. But what we've seen in Japan is outright yield curve control. And now we need central planning intervention to save the currency and they're starting to face inflation no matter all of the extents and services that they've done to prevent it. So all roads lead to the same place and I think the US is entering a very similar case where yield curve control is almost baked in the cake in my opinion and so is inflation.
And you know we see the high yields, see the strengthening dollar, it's kind of a perfect storm here for the Bitcoin thesis. How fast do you think that narrative hits mainstream? Do you think we're in the early innings still or do you think that we continue to kind of accelerate here?
I think it hits it fast. Listen, I'll never be able to predict and nor will anybody of when dominoes start to fall and how those escalate and speed up. But in my opinion, Bitcoin has always been the most sensitive asset to fiat liquidity and it's its greatest marketing engine. You know, I adore and there's a place in my heart for people that say, 'I'm not in it for the price. I'm in it for the technology.' And I appreciate that and that's very cute. But the reality is the price is all that matters. It tells us how much of the world is really monetizing this thing and it's our greatest marketing asset. And I think once fiat liquidity starts to gush, Bitcoin's always the most sensitive and its price always reacts the furthest and the farthest and it's always the fastest horse and there's recursive loop there. So when do we get into that loop? Soon. That's all I can say. But I'm very confident in that, especially looking at things like the 10-year yield and Scott Bessent wiggling around over there trying to figure out what to do.
And you know, a lot of our viewers are broadly diversified, right? They're Bitcoiners, but they have other assets as well. You know and as they see Bessent intervening or starting to take more action and they see this picture start to develop and starts to become more clear to them, you know whether it's the Treasury situation we're in combined with AI innovation and the decompression happening there and the deflationary effects and Bitcoin monetizing, are there any other assets or business models that stand to benefit from that or is it truly Bitcoin only?
For me it's Bitcoin only. Listen, you have to do the research into your comfort level. Like I guess theoretically gold is also a reasonable trade. Something that's relatively fixed. You know, no one should be working and storing in something that someone else can print is my very basic thesis. But Bitcoin has been historically a far greater performer than gold. And I think it's almost a science. It's because it's so much scarcer. It's so much harder to print than gold. Even a 2% inflation rate as we all know, it's better than 10% but it's a lot higher than zero. I mean Bitcoin gives you that finite promise. And so for me, Bitcoin is the obvious asset to hold. I know there's more implied volatility but I'm an adult and I can handle that as I think many other adults have learned to as well.
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Mallers, J. (2026, September 14). Strike CEO Jack Mallers: Inflation Outlook, Bond Stress and BTC vs Gold [Interview transcript]. Bitcoin Magazine. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1348231/
MLA
Jack Mallers. "Strike CEO Jack Mallers: Inflation Outlook, Bond Stress and BTC vs Gold." Bitcoin Magazine, 14 Sep. 2026. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1348231/.
BibTeX
@misc{mallers2026_1348231,
author = {Jack Mallers},
title = {Strike CEO Jack Mallers: Inflation Outlook, Bond Stress and BTC vs Gold},
howpublished = {Interview transcript, Bitcoin Magazine. CEOInterviews.AI},
year = {2026},
month = {sep},
url = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1348231/},
note = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}
