SKN | Bitcoin Could Reach $11 Million by 2036 Amid AI-Driven Deflation, Strive Strategist Predicts

AI Deflation and Monetary Policy

Burnett’s thesis centers on an “AI deflation engine”. As artificial intelligence accelerates productivity, costs across goods and services are expected to decline, exerting persistent deflationary pressure. In debt-based fiat systems, such deflation can strain credit markets because wages and asset prices fall while debt obligations remain fixed in nominal terms. Burnett argues that this dynamic will compel central banks and fiscal authorities to expand liquidity aggressively to prevent a deflationary spiral.

“Under a debt-based fiat framework, persistent deflation destabilizes credit markets,” Burnett writes. “As AI drives real-economy deflation, central banks and fiscal authorities expand liquidity to prevent a deflationary spiral.”

The report assumes that global wealth compounds at 7% annually through 2036 and that Bitcoin could capture roughly 12% of the total value of financial assets, up from its current 0.2%. If realized, this would imply a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 53%, slightly lower than Bitcoin’s historical 60% CAGR from 2015–2024, reflecting the scaling effect of a larger market cap.

Digital Credit and Bitcoin Demand

Burnett also highlights the rise of “digital credit” models, where companies with large Bitcoin holdings provide investors with dollar-denominated income through publicly traded instruments. This structure, he says, creates a feedback loop: as global yield demand rises, more Bitcoin accumulation occurs, further strengthening demand for scarce digital assets. Strive itself, noted as one of the largest corporate Bitcoin holders, leverages this mechanism to build treasury-backed digital credit products.

The strategist predicts these mechanisms could evolve into the early stages of a credit system built on verifiably scarce money, establishing Bitcoin as a foundational asset in the global financial infrastructure.

Market Context and Analyst Perspectives

The $11 million forecast exceeds most mainstream bullish projections. For comparison, ARK Invest’s 2030 bull case anticipates Bitcoin at $1.5 million per coin, with a bear case of $300,000. Nic Puckrin, co-founder of Coin Bureau, notes that achieving Burnett’s target would require Bitcoin to become roughly ten times larger than the current US M2 money supply, nearly four times the size of the US equity market today, and nearly double global GDP.

Investor psychology is critical. High-conviction scenarios like Burnett’s hinge on market belief in Bitcoin as a global reserve asset and confidence in structural monetary responses to AI-driven deflation. Institutional adoption, corporate accumulation, and the development of digital credit frameworks could amplify speculative and real-world demand simultaneously.

Implications for Bitcoin’s Long-Term Outlook

While the forecast rests on optimistic assumptions, it underscores the strategic importance of macroeconomic forces on crypto markets. Technological productivity gains, combined with debt-based fiat vulnerabilities, may amplify Bitcoin’s role as a hedge against monetary expansion. For investors and policymakers, understanding this interplay between AI, deflation, and Bitcoin adoption is crucial for long-term planning.

Bitcoin’s path over the next decade will likely be shaped less by short-term price swings and more by structural shifts in global finance and technological productivity. The emergence of digital credit, AI-induced deflationary pressures, and sustained monetary liquidity could define the contours of a new, Bitcoin-dominant financial ecosystem.