Jim Rickards, an economist and the author of “Currency Wars,” says the U.S. Treasury is actually the biggest threat to the U.S. dollar’s status as a reserve currency. However, he cautioned that an increasing number of countries seeking alternatives to the dollar as a payment currency is also “a big deal,” emphasizing: “The dollar is being attacked from all sides.”
Economist and “Currency Wars” author Jim Rickards has warned that despite China and other nations intensifying their efforts to reduce their dependency on the U.S. dollar, the USD’s biggest threat comes from the Treasury. He stressed on “Fox & Friends Weekend” Saturday:
The greatest enemy of the dollar as a reserve currency is not all those other countries. It’s the U.S. Treasury.
Rickards explained the difference between payment and reserve currency. He noted that while many countries are moving away from using the USD for payments, the “bigger threat” to the U.S. dollar is its potential replacement as a reserve currency. He detailed:
The U.S. Treasury has weaponized the dollar, frozen the reserves of the Central Bank of Russia and other countries looking around saying, ‘Hey, what if they don’t like what I did? What if they don’t like one of my policies, are they’re going to freeze my reserves?’
“If you say I want to get out of the dollar as a reserve currency, the only really good alternative is gold,” the economist opined.
Commenting on efforts by China and several other countries to challenge the USD as a payment currency, Rickards said:
That’s a big deal. The dollar is being attacked from all sides. People are looking for substitute payment currencies.
A growing group of nations, which includes China, Russia, India, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia, have made efforts to reduce their reliance on the U.S. dollar. Recently, China and Brazil reached an agreement to replace the USD with their own currencies in trade transactions. Moreover, ASEAN countries have agreed to reduce their reliance on the U.S. dollar for trade settlements, and the BRICS nations are reportedly working on creating a new currency.
Do you agree with Jim Rickards? Let us know in the comments section below.
A student of Austrian Economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open-source systems, network effects and the intersection between economics and cryptography.
Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.
Ripple CEO: SEC Lawsuit Over XRP 'Has Gone Exceedingly Well'
The CEO of Ripple Labs says that the lawsuit brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against him and his company over XRP "has gone exceedingly well." He stressed: "This case is important, not just for Ripple, it’s ... read more.
Jim Rickards, an economist and the author of “Currency Wars,” says the U.S. Treasury is actually the biggest threat to the U.S. dollar’s status as a reserve currency. However, he cautioned that an increasing number of countries seeking alternatives to the dollar as a payment currency is also “a big deal,” emphasizing: “The dollar is being attacked from all sides.”
Economist and “Currency Wars” author Jim Rickards has warned that despite China and other nations intensifying their efforts to reduce their dependency on the U.S. dollar, the USD’s biggest threat comes from the Treasury. He stressed on “Fox & Friends Weekend” Saturday:
The greatest enemy of the dollar as a reserve currency is not all those other countries. It’s the U.S. Treasury.
Rickards explained the difference between payment and reserve currency. He noted that while many countries are moving away from using the USD for payments, the “bigger threat” to the U.S. dollar is its potential replacement as a reserve currency. He detailed:
The U.S. Treasury has weaponized the dollar, frozen the reserves of the Central Bank of Russia and other countries looking around saying, ‘Hey, what if they don’t like what I did? What if they don’t like one of my policies, are they’re going to freeze my reserves?’
“If you say I want to get out of the dollar as a reserve currency, the only really good alternative is gold,” the economist opined.
Commenting on efforts by China and several other countries to challenge the USD as a payment currency, Rickards said:
That’s a big deal. The dollar is being attacked from all sides. People are looking for substitute payment currencies.
A growing group of nations, which includes China, Russia, India, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia, have made efforts to reduce their reliance on the U.S. dollar. Recently, China and Brazil reached an agreement to replace the USD with their own currencies in trade transactions. Moreover, ASEAN countries have agreed to reduce their reliance on the U.S. dollar for trade settlements, and the BRICS nations are reportedly working on creating a new currency.
Do you agree with Jim Rickards? Let us know in the comments section below.
A student of Austrian Economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open-source systems, network effects and the intersection between economics and cryptography.
Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.
Ripple CEO: SEC Lawsuit Over XRP 'Has Gone Exceedingly Well'
The CEO of Ripple Labs says that the lawsuit brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against him and his company over XRP "has gone exceedingly well." He stressed: "This case is important, not just for Ripple, it’s ... read more.
The banking industry in the United States is still struggling after the collapse of three major banks. According to statistics, bank lending in the U.S. has dropped by close to $105 billion in the last two weeks of March, which is the largest decline on record. Additionally, Elon Musk, a Tesla executive and owner of Twitter, recently commented on trillions of dollars being withdrawn from banks into money market funds, and he insists that the “trend will accelerate.”
There are still plenty of signs showing that the U.S. banking system is feeling the aftermath of several high-profile bank collapses. During the first week of March, Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), and Signature Bank (SBNY) closed down operations. Both SVB and SBNY were placed under government control. The U.S. Federal Reserve, Treasury, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) bailed out SBNY and SVB’s uninsured depositors and made all depositors whole.
Since then, the banking contagion has spread across the United States and internationally, with financial institutions like SVB UK and Credit Suisse faltering. According to a recent report published by Bloomberg, the last two weeks of March saw the largest contraction in lending on record after the collapses. The Federal Reserve’s data on the subject only goes back to 1973, and in the last two weeks of March 2023, almost $105 billion was erased.
Alexandre Tanzi from Bloomberg explains that loans consisted of industrial, commercial, and real estate loans. Furthermore, last week saw $64.7 billion in commercial bank deposits removed from financial institutions, which marked the 10th straight weekly decline in deposits. Another sign of trouble is the spike in Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) bond issuance in March. Jack Farley, a journalist and macro researcher for Blockworks, shared a chart showing FHLB bond issuance surging last month “to just under a quarter trillion dollars.” Farley added:
This is over six times the post-GFC average for the month of March and it indicates banks’ scramble for cash.
Moreover, the popular Twitter account Wall Street Silver (WSS) shared a video of economist Peter St. Onge explaining that a significant amount of bank deposits are moving to money market accounts. WSS tweeted, “Trillions of dollars are draining out of the banks… into money market funds. That weakens the banks. Fear that the banks are at risk is driving this trend and thus making the banks even weaker.” The economist’s video statement and WSS’s tweet sparked a response from Twitter’s owner, Elon Musk. The Tesla executive warned:
This trend will accelerate.
This is not the first time Musk has cautioned the public about the U.S. banking system, as he has criticized the U.S. Federal Reserve on several occasions. In November 2022, Musk warned that the U.S. would see a severe recession and urged the Fed to slash the federal funds rate. In December 2022, the owner of Twitter said that a recession would amplify if the Fed raised the interest rate and the central bank increased the rate. Musk also insisted in December that the Fed’s rapid rate hikes would go down in history as one of the “most damaging ever.” After the three major U.S. banks failed in March, Musk lambasted the Fed’s data latency and called for an immediate drop in interest rates.
What do you think the long-term effects of the recent bank collapses and decrease in lending will be on the U.S. economy? What do you think about Elon Musk’s warning? Share your thoughts about this subject in the comments section below.
Jamie Redman is the News Lead at Bitcoin.com News and a financial tech journalist living in Florida. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. He has a passion for Bitcoin, open-source code, and decentralized applications. Since September 2015, Redman has written more than 6,000 articles for Bitcoin.com News about the disruptive protocols emerging today.
Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Bloomberg Chart,
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.
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Last December, the renowned professional skateboarder Tony Hawk released his “Last Trick” non-fungible token (NFT) collection via the NFT marketplace Autograph. Next week, Hawk will be auctioning the skateboards he used during his last tricks, and each of the NFTs ... read more.
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