The death of the age of bronze.

A little over 3,200 years ago, the Mediterranean and lands to the east were home to a diverse group of thriving civilisations.

The area was a hotbed of interconnected cultures, which in this Bronze Age of history flourished because of trade.  

The seafaring people of Minoa exported some of the region’s finest wines and olive oils to their neighbours, as well as the most luxurious pottery the world had ever seen. Ceramics of exquisite craftsmanship were trafficked far and wide, to those who could afford their high price.

The lands of the Hittites were rich in silver, copper, and iron, which they traded for jewellery and textiles with the people of Mesopotamia, and for the valuable lumber that was ferried to them by the Phoenicians.

And far to the east on the river Euphrates lay the city of Babylon. At the time this was the centre of the world’s trade, and a place that was recognised as the wealthiest city that had ever existed.

It was a time of great prosperity. Seemingly, one without an end in sight.

However, the end would come. And it would come for almost all the empires of the Bronze Age at once.

During a span of no more than fifty years, a perfect storm of catastrophes would wipe many of these magnificent cultures from the face of the Earth. And plunge the world into a darker age of struggle and strife.

A historic drought of unrecorded proportions devastated lands far and wide, turning the nations encircling the Mediterranean into a dustbowl, which also caused the waters of the Dead Sea to drop by over fifty metres.

Coastal settlements were ravaged by a mysterious group of invaders recorded only as the “Sea Peoples”, who tore nations asunder, and burned cities to the ground. The attacks claimed the Canaanite city of Meggido, as well as the Hittite capital Hattusa.

And in the year 1159 BC, on a frozen island that wouldn’t be discovered by humans for another two thousand years, a volcano that would eventually be named Hekla erupted. The result was widespread famine, caused by a global volcanic winter.

Food shortages, foreign invaders, starvation, geological calamity, and much more besides. Never in history had so many misfortunes hit a group of empires all at once.

The result was the end of humanity’s Bronze Age. And the definitive destruction of many cultures the world would never see again.

But what if another perfect storm of catastrophes was coming?

Well today, something may be on the horizon. Only this time, it could be a storm that results in the collapse of the American dollar.

You see, it seems as if the US dollar is dying.

For many reading this email, the initial reaction upon hearing this news might be something along the lines of “who cares?” Because if you’re not earning or holding US dollars, you might believe that the currency collapsing wouldn’t affect you at all.

Wrong.

A large part of our world has a stake in the fact that the US dollar remains a secure means of exchange. And if this suddenly changes, the quality of life many of us enjoy would also likely be eroded.

For example, many of our nations hold assets in US dollars, trade heavily in the money of the United States, or are owed debts in the currency. Meaning that a devaluation of the almighty USD could mean negative economic fallout for your country as a whole, no matter where in the world you live.

If you’re a business owner who trades internationally, an individual who buys a lot of your goods online in the US, or someone who relies on American companies or suppliers partly to make your living, a fall in the US dollar could sting you even more.

But of course, it would be people living in the United States who would be hit worst of all.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but unfortunately, I believe there are significant signs that this kind of collapse could be coming very soon.

Signs like the insane amount of money printing that the American government has carried out during the past two years, since the ‘VID pandemic hit the world.

How much exactly has been printed changes depending on which way you look at the data, though by some estimates, it’s possible that over 80% of all US dollars that have ever existed were created since early 2020. Simply put, that’s a staggering amount of money entering the market, resulting in a staggering amount of inflation and currency devaluation.

Or another sign which is the fact that the US dollar has lost around 97% of its total purchasing power over the last century. That alone should be seriously concerning to anyone who has anything to do with the currency.

But even more recently—and potentially the timeliest sign of the end of the US dollar—is the news that Saudi Arabia considering accepting payments for oil in Chinese yuan.

In case you’re unaware, almost all the world’s trade in oil is currently carried out in US dollars, which has been the case for the last half-century of history. This all started after an agreement was made between the United States and Saudi Arabia in the 1970s, in an effort to stabilise world oil prices.

If Saudi Arabia allows the CCP to start purchasing oil in yuan, this would be a signal to the rest of the world that the USD has lost its place as the global standard for trading oil. Which in my opinion, would start a chain reaction of other oil-producing nations to stop mandating the use of the petrodollar as well.

If this would happen—and it looks like this could be the case very soon—the reserve currency of our modern world would quickly lose its power.

At the very least, this would result in a swift devaluation of the US dollar. But more seriously, could possibly result in it collapsing completely.

So, what’s a person to do to protect themselves from this increasingly-likely eventuality?

For me, diversification is key.

Having all your savings in US dollars, or in assets held in the United States, is probably an idea as bad as eating a month-old fish sandwich that hasn’t been refrigerated.

If the US dollar goes under, people will rush to other, more stable currencies, which will likely result in them increasing in value. The first of which will likely be the Euro, as it’s currently the second most traded currency on the planet. But for me personally, I like the idea of diversifying my savings over at least three historically-stable currencies. Ideally, held in bank accounts across multiple nations.

Potentially also, you could look at putting some of your savings in rising currencies, like the Chinese yuan. Just the recent talk of the yuan being accepted for oil purchases caused it to spike in value, which would only be compounded if—or more likely when—Saudi Arabia allows it to be used to purchase oil.

But what else could you do?

I’m starting to sound like a broken record when it comes to this point, though putting some of your cash into precious metals like gold and silver are obvious choices to me, when it comes to securing one’s savings and wealth outside of fiat money.

It doesn’t matter if the dollar collapses tomorrow, or if there’s fallout from that in other nations, the fact that all countries recognise the value of metals like gold and silver means that you’ll always be able to convert them into a currency that still has value. Or even simply, to be able to trade your metals directly for the items you need.

However, it’s important to consider that if you are intending to hold a portion of your wealth in precious metals, I believe it’s never a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket.

It’s great to store your metals for safekeeping in a secure vaulted service (like Gold Avenue, which we personally use in Europe). But in the case of a massive currency collapse where you wake up to find the numbers in your bank account worth nothing, you’ll ideally want part of your precious metal stash close to hand. Because of this, storing some in a vault closer to home is likely a great idea also.

For the most part though, the word you should keep in mind is diversify.

Diversify your assets by holding them in several nations. Diversify your savings across multiple currencies. Diversify how you store your wealth, in things like gold, cryptocurrencies, or other commodities.

Diversify, diversify, diversify.

If you do this well, you’ll move closer to becoming financially untouchable.

Because no matter what happens to the US dollar, to your nation, or to world markets, any negative repercussions will only hit a small portion of what you own.

Not everything.

The alternative is that like many of the societies of the Bronze Age, you might find yourself to be a statistic of the next collapse.

Be a survivor.

Leon Hill.
Co-founder, Abundantia.