Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong expressed support for the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a federal agency focused on reducing spending and reducing regulation. The division will be led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
On August 20, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump discussed recruiting Musk to the cabinet or giving the billionaire an advisory role starting in January 2025. At the time, President Trump did not specifically reveal which department he planned to assign Tesla CEO to. .
On November 13, Trump officially announced that Musk and Ramaswamy would lead a new agency aimed at streamlining federal operations by eliminating waste, cutting regulations, and restructuring government agencies.
Meanwhile, Armstrong sees the new government agency as an opportunity to increase the country’s economic freedom.
Coinbase CEO Thinks “DOGE” Can Increase Financial Freedom
On November 17, Coinbase executives posted on X that DOGE was an opportunity to “increase economic freedom” and restore government efficiency. He also proposed a constitutional amendment to limit government spending to 10% of gross domestic product (GDP). Armstrong wrote:
“The Founding Fathers were geniuses, but they may have (modestly) missed the detrimental incentives of increasing the size of democratic government over time (winning elections by promising more free stuff).”
The Coinbase CEO suggested that to future-proof this issue, the country may need to amend its constitution to limit total government spending to 10%. He said the government needed to have the right incentives for spending to prevent it from getting “completely out of control” in the long term.
Armstrong also floated the idea of having a sovereign wealth fund in which every American citizen would have a stake. This will ensure that budget surpluses provide dividends to shareholders. “Then all citizens will participate in the game. Maybe Congress will have a slightly larger stake,” Armstrong added.
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Dogecoin price surges after presidential election
The government department has an abbreviation similar to the Dogecoin (DOGE) ticker, but has nothing to do with Memecoin.
Nonetheless, Memecoin experienced a price surge following the announcement. A day after Musk posted about government agencies, DOGE reached a yearly high of $0.39 before a slight correction.
Musk, who previously faced allegations of Dogecoin price manipulation, successfully defended himself in a 2022 lawsuit related to the matter.
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