Lance Roberts: The dollar's plumbing: Conspiracy vs. data

By Lance Roberts Real Investment Advice, Houston Friday, March 20, 2026 Every few months a headline appears declaring that the U.S. dollar's reign as the world's reserve currency is over. China is dumping Treasuries. Central banks are hoarding gold. The BRICS are building a new monetary order. The sanctions that froze $300 billion of Russia's reserves in 2022 proved, the argument goes, that dollar-denominated assets are no longer safe. The "risk-free" asset has become a weapon. ... Dispatch continues below ... ... ADVERTISEMENT ... First Majestic Mines Silver and Gold,  Mints Its Own Silver Bars, Ingots, Coins, and Medallions, and Sells Them Online at Low Premiums First Majestic is a publicly traded mining company focused on silver and gold production in Mexico and the United States. The company owns and operates four producing underground mines in Mexico: the Cerro Los Gatos Silver Mine (the company holds a 70% interest in the Los Gatos Joint Venture that owns and operates the mine), the Santa Elena Silver and Gold Mine, the San Dimas Silver and Gold Mine, and the La Encantada Silver Mine, as well as a portfolio of development and exploration assets, including the Jerritt Canyon gold project in northeastern Nevada, U.S.A. In 2025 these mines are projected to produce between 27.8 to 31.2 million silver-equivalent ounces, consisting of 13.6 to 15.3 million ounces of silver and 129,000 to 144,000 ounces of gold, with an all-in sustaining cost of $19.89 to $21.27 per payable silver-equivalent ounce. For more information about the company, visit: https://www.firstmajestic.com In a practice unique to First Majestic, the company is proud to manufacture exceptional silver bullion products from its 100%-owned and operated minting facility, First Mint, offering a portion of its own silver production for sale to the public. Bars, ingots, coins, and medallions are available for purchase online at the company's bullion store at low premiums. To review First Mint’s full product range, visit: https://www.firstmint.com The data tells a more nuanced and arguably more important story -- one that investors ignore in favor of the simpler narrative is the risk of getting it badly wrong. ... The de-dollarization narrative is mostly wrong on the facts, but captures something real in the sentiment. The dollar is not dying. Foreign demand for Treasuries is at record highs. But the architecture through which the world interacts with dollar assets is quietly being rebuilt. This is not by adversaries seeking to destroy the system, but by participants seeking to insulate themselves from its political risks and regulatory costs. The greater threat to dollar hegemony is not China buying gold. It is the U.S. government simultaneously weaponing its financial infrastructure, imposing costly regulatory mandates on Treasury market participants, and running fiscal deficits requiring more than $2 trillion in new issuance. The world is not abandoning the dollar. It is hedging against the people who control it. That distinction matters enormously for how investors should position portfolios. It is also a warning for how policymakers should think about the long-term consequences of weaponizing the reserve currency. ... --- Lance Roberts is the chief investment strategist for RIA Advisors and lead editor of the Real Investment Report, a weekly subscriber-based newsletter to more than 100,000 people nationwide. ... For the remainder of the analysis: https://realinvestmentadvice.com/resources/blog/the-dollars-plumbing-conspiracy-vs-data/ * * * Support GATA by purchasing Stuart Englert's "Rigged" "Rigged" is a concise explanation of government's currency market rigging policy and extensively credits GATA's work exposing it. Ten percent of sales proceeds are contributed to GATA. Buy a copy for $14.99 through Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Rigged-Exposing-Largest-Financial%20-History/dp/1651405204/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_2?keywords=rugged+stuart+englert&qid=1579708888&sr=8-2-fkmr1 * * * Help keep GATA going: GATA is a civil rights and educational organization based in the United States and tax-exempt under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Its e-mail dispatches are free, and you can subscribe at: http://www.gata.org To contribute to GATA, please visit: http://www.gata.org/node/16 Donations of $500 or more will entitle the donor to a 1-ounce silver round commemorating GATA's work: https://www.gata.org/sites/default/files/GATA-silver-round-front.png