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China’s Gold-Backed PetroYuan Just Fired the Dollar’s Funeral Shot

  1. The Petrodollar’s Original Sin

    How the U.S. forced oil trades in dollars (1971-2023);

    1. The 1970s: Birth of the Petrodollar

    • 1971: Nixon ended the Bretton Woods system, decoupling the dollar from gold.

    • 1973-74: The U.S. struck a secret deal with Saudi Arabia (via the U.S.-Saudi Arabian Joint Commission) ensuring that oil would be priced and traded exclusively in USD.

      • In exchange, the U.S. offered military protection and investments in Saudi infrastructure.

      • Other OPEC nations followed, making the dollar the global oil currency.

    2. Enforcement: Sanctions & Wars

    The U.S. has used economic and military power to maintain dollar dominance:

    • Iraq (2000): Saddam Hussein switched oil sales to euros; the U.S. invaded in 2003.

      Image 1: An American Obsession
    • Libya (2011): Gaddafi planned a gold-backed African dinar for oil; NATO intervened.

      Image 2: The US Helped Murder Gaddafi to Stop the Creation of Gold -Backed Currency | by Evangelos
    • Venezuela & Iran: Both tried selling oil in non-dollar currencies (euros, yuan, crypto) and faced severe sanctions.

      Image 3: Venezuela and Iran hold the largest and third-largest petroleum reserves in the world, respectively. Both have also been targeted for regime change by Washington

    3. Recent Challenges (2020s)

    • Russia & China: Now trading oil in yuan, rubles, and local currencies.

      Image 5: Russia dropping US dollar for Chinese yuan
    • BRICS Nations: Pushing for de-dollarization in oil trade.

      Image 6: BRICS+ nations determined to trade in their own currencies – Asia Times

       

      • It was never about trade—it was about control;

        1. The Real Motive: Locking the World into Dollar Dependency

        • Oil is the lifeblood of industrial economies. By forcing oil to be traded in dollars, the U.S. ensured that every country needed massive dollar reserves to buy energy.

        • This created permanent demand for the dollar, allowing the U.S. to:

          • Print money without hyperinflation (since dollars were always needed).

          • Run massive deficits (other nations had to absorb dollar inflation).

          • Control global finance (via SWIFT, sanctions, and Federal Reserve policies).

        Evidence:

        • Former French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing called this the “exorbitant privilege” of the U.S. dollar.

        • Declassified Nixon-era memos show U.S. officials explicitly discussing how oil-dollar recycling would “maintain U.S. financial supremacy.”


        2. Enforcement: Coercion, Not Free Markets

        The U.S. didn’t just “convince” countries to use dollars—it punished those who resisted:

        • Iraq (2000-2003): Saddam switched oil sales to euros. The U.S. invaded, toppled him, and switched Iraq back to dollars.

        • Libya (2011): Gaddafi planned a gold-backed African dinar for oil trade. NATO bombed Libya, he was killed, and the dinar died with him.

        • Venezuela & Iran: Both tried selling oil in yuan/euros/crypto—crushed by sanctions.

        Key Quote:

        • Alan Greenspan (former Fed Chair) admitted in his memoir:

          “The Iraq War was largely about oil… and the dollar’s role as the reserve currency.”


        3. The Ultimate Goal: Preventing Any Alternative System

        • Any country that tried to bypass the dollar was isolated, sanctioned, or attacked.

        • The U.S. pressured Europe & Asia to reject alternatives (e.g., China’s yuan oil futures).

        • Central banks were forced to hold dollars (or risk losing access to oil markets).

  2. China’s Checkmate Moves

    • 2023: Saudi Arabia accepts yuan for oil.

    • 2024: Russia-Iran-China form “gold-backed oil triangle.”

    • Data: PetroYuan trades up 1,200% since 2018.

  3. The Dollar’s Collapse Symptoms

  4. What’s Next?

More sources:

– PetroYuan oil trades (2018 vs. 2024) https://apjjf.org/2018/22/mathews

– China’s oil partners (Saudi, Russia, Iran, Venezuela) https://www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/publications/chinas-oil-demand-imports-and-supply-security/

Image 9: China oil partners

 

Image 10: RIP PetroDollar (1971-2024)
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