Lyn Alden: Bitcoin and the 'Unipolar World'

The global financial landscape is transitioning from a US-led unipolar system toward a multipolar reality as China strategically pivots away from the traditional petrodollar model. Macro strategist Lyn Alden explains that instead of recycling trade surpluses into US Treasuries, China now utilizes those dollars to fund the Belt and Road Initiative, securing "commodity encumbrance" by trading loans for long-term rights to oil and infrastructure in developing nations. This shift, accelerated by the invasion of Ukraine and subsequent sanctions on Russian funds, allows emerging powers to settle energy trades in local currencies like the yuan. While dollar hegemony historically bolstered US global influence, the resulting artificially strong currency now disadvantages domestic manufacturing and the American middle class. As marginal commodity production becomes contractually obligated to non-Western interests, the global economy faces persistent inflationary pressures and a fundamental redistribution of financial power.