People baffled as US government encourages Americans to help pay off country's $36 trillion debt through PayPal and Venmo

People have been left confused after realising you can donate to bring down the cost of America's national debt.

Although the concept has been around for a while, people are just finding out that the Treasury Department is accepting donations - via PayPal and Venmo - to chip away at the national debt, which currently stands at $36.7 trillion.

NPR's Jack Corbett shared a screengrab on X earlier this week, explaining: "You can venmo the United States to help pay off the national debt."

And people have been left baffled, with many not realising the system existed.

Those who fancy donating simply head to pay.gov where donations can be made via credit card, debit card, PayPal, checking account or savings account. You can also write a cheque via post.

The online form states: "Thank you for your contribution which will be deposited to the account 'Gifts to Reduce the Public Debt.'

"Your contribution is accepted under the provisions of 31 U.S.C. 3113 which authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to accept conditional gifts to the United States for the purpose of reducing the public debt.

"These donations are voluntary, and no goods, services, or other considerations are provided to the donors."

you can venmo the United States to help pay off the national debt pic.twitter.com/UBfSvbAIx0

— Jack Corbett (@jackcorrbit) July 23, 2025

However, there is doubt about how much a donation - even a sizeable one - would actually make a difference.

According to Axios, it would be 'almost impossible' for a donation to make a dent in the debt, even if it was very generous.

The site explained that it trialled the donation process, which took 80 seconds in total.

During that time, the national debt would have reportedly increased by over $4 million, due to the fact it rises by around $55,000 every single second.

The donation would have to be made in 18 seconds, at a maximum donation of $999,999.99 just to keep up with the speed in which the debt is climbing.

People were completely gobsmacked, with one person writing on social media: "I can't believe this s**t is real.

"You can gift the US government money and assets to reduce the public debt.

"Public debt is such a lost cause, its going to infinity."

While another added: "Wow that's crazy. Sad part is a lot of people will probably do it."

And a third joked: "Are you annoyed by the big debt the US has? Worry no more!

"Americans now have the option to pay down the $36.7 trillion federal debt with PayPal and Venmo donations."