
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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