Why is it so ridiculous to buy it at face value? They aren't losing the 25% you're quoting, they are just holding the bonds till maturity. In the worst case they are losing the what they could have "made" on that money in the interim. But realistically this is kind of the governments job no? Put cash where it can help society the most - making the depositors (who are mostly startups) seems like a great use of capital - it ensures employees get paid payroll AND makes sure a bunch of startups don't die (who would have gone on to create a bunch of value/jobs/etc).