Final Thoughts from Rio: The Dawn of a New Financial Era

Guest Post by Peter Reagan

What we saw in Rio made one thing clear: BRICS isn’t just pushing back on the dollar. They’ve built a new financial system. From accelerated dedollarization to gold hoarding, here are five key takeaways you won’t hear on the nightly news…

I had a quiet moment on my last day in Rio de Janeiro. Sipping my coffee on the hotel balcony overlooking Copacabana one last time, I reflected on something I’d heard from a number of BRICS delegates over the week:

“We are not against the U.S. but we are against dollar dominance. We don’t want confrontation, but we do want the freedom to choose.”

Those two sentences may best capture what the Rio Reset is all about.

Being there, in-person and on the ground, I got an entirely different perspective. From my desk in Los Angeles, it was easy to see the BRICS 2025 summit as a gathering of anti-American anarchists trying to tear down the existing financial order.

Instead, I found a gathering of sovereign nations quietly working toward their own economic freedom. Building financial circuit breakers in advance of the next global crisis. Creating escape hatches from dollar dependence.

Phillip Patrick and I came to Rio to learn, to listen and to report on a subject the mainstream media mostly ignores.

Here are five of our biggest takeaways from the BRICS 2025 Summit…

1. Dedollarization is now mainstream policy

What used to be called a “fringe theory” or alarmist speculation is now public, official policy for BRICS members.

Brazil’s President Lula, host of the summit, had some observations on dedollarization:

“The world has changed… We are sovereign countries. There’s no going back. Reducing dependence on the dollar will happen step by step – until it is consolidated.”

“Nobody has determined that the dollar is the currency standard,” he added. While history says otherwise, Lula’s point is clear: BRICS nations no longer accept that arrangement.

Multiple formal speeches and summit documents confirmed that reducing dollar dependence is not a wish – it’s a working plan. Confirming everything we learned in our interview with Professor Pablo Ibañez.

Dedollarization is now official BRICS policy. Even more importantly, it’s a policy that’s already in motion.

2. Gold’s vital role in the dedollarization drive

Nearly every insider we met emphasized gold’s stabilizing role in a world of shifting currencies.

Nearly everyone we spoke to about dedollarization also mentioned gold (all off the record, unfortunately). BRICS nations don’t always trust one another, let alone one another’s currencies. Just about the only thing they do trust, it seems, is physical gold bullion.

Central bank data backs this up: Globally, central banks are buying gold at record levels. For three consecutive years now! Today, world central banks have about as much gold as they did during the peak of the Bretton-Woods gold-standard era.

Actions speak louder than words.

Here’s my concern: Central bankers are the people who create currency. If they don’t trust currency, if they’re stockpiling gold at a record pace, shouldn’t we at least consider why?

3. Virtual media blackout in the west

Perhaps the most shocking thing about the summit? How little of it was reported back home.

While the U.S. media focused on political gossip and the tragic flooding in Texas, BRICS leaders were publicizing their new economic direction. That’s exactly why we covered this summit in person.

You probably already know this, but if you want to truly stay informed, you have to look beyond the nightly news.

4. An accelerating timeline

What once seemed like a 10-to-15-year arc now looks more like three. Technology – especially digital payment networks and bilateral clearing agreements – is helping these nations sidestep the legacy, dollar-based financial network even faster than I expected.

Dedollarization isn’t a switch BRICS can flip to instantly eliminate the dollar from their international trade. Rather, it’s a process that requires some real effort at the national level. Even so, key BRICS members (specifically Brazil, Russia and China) are actively engaged in dedollarizing their trade.

It’s happening before our eyes, and it’s happening fast.

5. Time to reassess your exposure to the dollar

Nations, including the world’s second-largest economy, are diversifying away from the dollar. That’s bad news for several reasons…

First, the dollar’s purchasing power is based on supply and demand. Every single bilateral trade deal BRICS nations sign reduces the global demand for dollars. That means lost purchasing power for you and me.

Second, the world buys U.S. government debt as a proxy for dollars. Lower dollar demand means lower demand for that debt. Considering we have $36.6 trillion in existing debt that’s costing over $1 trillion a year just to roll over, lower demand for our debt could easily send our refinancing costs spiraling. And that spells inflation, as it has throughout human history, from Argentina to Zimbabwe and everywhere in between.

If entire nations – allies and adversaries alike – are reducing dollar exposure, shouldn’t individuals consider doing the same?

That leads us to the next question: If we can’t trust the U.S. dollar, what can we trust? Only a handful of hard assets like farmland, physical precious metals, and energy resources like oil and natural gas have historically offered stability throughout periods of financial upheaval. In uncertain times, diversification isn’t just smart – it’s essential.

If this shift away from the dollar has you rethinking your savings strategy, trust me, you’re not alone.

There’s still more to come

Over the next week, we’ll be releasing additional footage, transcripts and a full report that brings together everything we learned on the ground here in Rio. I’m working to schedule a follow-up conversation with Professor Ibañez, too (although he tells me he’s even busier now than during the BRICS Summit).

Thank you for taking this journey with us. I’m deeply grateful for your attention, your questions and your willingness to look beyond the headlines.

The Rio Reset isn’t the end. It’s the beginning of a story that will affect each and every one of us in the months and years ahead.

Don’t let your guard down.

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