Psyche 16: The Asteroid That Could Reshape the Global Economy — If We’re Smart About It

By Jose Santiago (my article)

Published August 09, 2025

Astronomers have long known about Psyche 16 — a massive asteroid orbiting between Mars and Jupiter, composed mostly of metals like gold, nickel, iron, and platinum. But recent studies have put an astonishing value on it: as much as $10 quintillion (that’s a 1 followed by 19 zeros).

To put that in perspective, the entire global economy produces about $110 trillion a year. The sheer amount of wealth locked inside Psyche 16 has led to both excitement and concern.

While it’s tempting to imagine paying off national debts overnight and sending stimulus checks to every citizen on Earth, experts warn that flooding the market with too much metal too quickly could cause catastrophic economic collapse by making precious metals suddenly worthless.

Instead, economists and space policy experts say the answer is to mine slowly, strategically, and sustainably.

Why Mining Psyche 16 Could Change Everything

Mining Psyche wouldn’t just be about the metals. It could:

• Fund national infrastructure projects without raising taxes
• Dramatically reduce or eliminate national deficits over time
• Strengthen currency stability by introducing new wealth in a controlled manner
• Boost the space industry, creating millions of jobs in engineering, transport, and manufacturing
• Spark innovation in automation, robotics, and energy systems

Smart Extraction, Smart Economics

Here’s a possible controlled extraction plan:

Asteroid Mining Key Metrics

Extraction Rate: 0.1% of Psyche’s mass per year

Annual Gross Revenue: ~ $10 trillion

Years to Pay Off $100T Debt: ~ 10 years

Years to Exhaust Psyche: ~ 1,000 years

How to Avoid a Global Economic Shock

If we mine Psyche too quickly, precious metals will flood markets, prices will crash, and entire industries — from jewelry to electronics — could destabilize. The key is slow release and global coordination.

• Create an International Psyche Mining Council (IPMC) to regulate extraction rates
• Invest proceeds into infrastructure, renewable energy, and research instead of immediate consumption
• Support global debt relief gradually to avoid currency shocks
• Use metals strategically in industries where scarcity slows technological growth

What It Means for Investors

For private investors, Psyche represents a long-term play, not a short-term jackpot. The real value will come from:

• Space mining infrastructure companies
• Robotics and automation firms
• Space transportation providers
• Material science innovators

The Bottom Line

Psyche 16 has the potential to reshape the global economy for centuries, but only if leaders treat it as a shared, long-term resource rather than a quick payout. The temptation to cash out instantly could lead to global market collapse — but careful, strategic planning could usher in a new golden age of prosperity.

Sources for Asteroid 16 Psyche and Composition

• NASA’s Psyche Mission Overview https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/psyche/overview/index.html
• Asteroid 16 Psyche — Wikipedia (well-sourced summary) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16_Psyche
• Scientific paper on Psyche’s composition and mass estimates Elkins-Tanton, L.T., et al., Science, 2019 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aax7460

Sources for Commodity Prices

• Current Metals Prices — Kitco https://www.kitco.com/
• Nickel Market Overview — London Metal Exchange https://www.lme.com/en-GB/Metals/Non-ferrous/Nickel
• Gold Price Historical Data — Macrotrends https://www.macrotrends.net/1333/historical-gold-prices-100-year-chart

Sources for Global Debt and Economics

• Global Debt Report 2024 — Institute of International Finance (IIF) https://www.iif.com/Research/Capital-Flows-and-Debt/Global-Debt-Tracker
• IMF Data on Public Debt https://www.imf.org/en/Data
• World Bank Global Economic Prospects https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/global-economic-prospects

Sources for Space Law and Policy

• The Outer Space Treaty (1967) — United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/introouterspacetreaty.html
• Space Resources: International Legal Framework — Secure World Foundation https://swfound.org/media/206786/swf_space_resources_white_paper_2020.pdf