RISE of the American Empire with Brent Johnson

RISE of the American Empire with Brent Johnson

From The Bitcoin Layer by The Bitcoin Layer

March 25, 2026 · 57 min · Episode 264

About this episode

Nik welcomes back Brent Johnson for a discussion on the dollar's behavior during crises and the Rise of the American Empire framework.

In this episode, Nik welcomes back Brent Johnson of Santiago Capital for a wide-ranging global macro conversation. Brent breaks down the dollar's behavior during geopolitical crises, the deglobalization thesis and fracturing supply chains, and his Rise of the American Empire framework drawing parallels to Rome's transition from republic to empire. They cover the Office of Strategic Capital's push to secure critical minerals and semiconductors, the US-China power competition over chips and rare earths, Persian Gulf risks including fertilizer disruptions and famine, and close with stablecoins, bitcoin as a pure play on global liquidity, and why digital assets are here to stay. The Bitcoin Layer and its guests do not provide investment advice.

People in this episode

Host: Nik

Guest: Brent Johnson

Topics covered

  • global macro
  • geopolitical crises
  • deglobalization
  • supply chains
  • US-China competition
  • digital assets
  • stablecoins

Keywords

  • dollar
  • geopolitical crises
  • deglobalization
  • supply chains
  • US-China competition
  • stablecoins
  • bitcoin
  • global liquidity
  • critical minerals
  • semiconductors

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Santiago Capital, Office of Strategic Capital

Places: United States, China, Persian Gulf, Rome

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