China’s Gold-Backed Currency and the Dollar’s Decline — Shanon Davis on Cyrus Janssen

American Alternative Assets CEO Shanon Davis joined Cyrus Janssen to unpack one of the most consequential shifts in global finance: China assembling a gold-backed settlement system while the U.S. dollar keeps losing ground. Their conversation connects the dots between record central-bank gold buying, the war in the Middle East, and what it all means for everyday retirement savers.

Central Banks Are Buying Gold at a Record Pace

Davis points to the clearest signal of where the smart money is moving: global central banks have purchased more than 1,000 metric tons of gold annually for several consecutive years. China has steadily increased its reserves, and Poland alone has added more than 200 metric tons in recent years. “Countries are de-dollarizing as we speak,” Davis explains — moving away from a dollar he describes as a risk asset inside a monetary system that is visibly changing.

BRICS and a Gold-Backed Settlement System

The bigger story, Davis argues, is structural. The BRICS bloc has grown to 11 full members and 10 partner countries and is developing a token-based, gold-backed framework for cross-border transactions. In effect, China is rebuilding a version of the pre-1971 Bretton Woods gold-exchange standard — holding a pool of gold behind its currency and constructing a parallel financial architecture where gold sits as a neutral settlement asset. Hong Kong’s new Precious Metals Central Clearing Company is part of that same buildout.

The Dollar’s Shrinking Buying Power

The backdrop for all of this is a dollar that has lost roughly 30% of its buying power in just six years. Davis and Janssen tie that erosion to a government “addiction” to printing money and a rising cost of living — the same pressures driving more investors toward hard assets that have held value for thousands of years.

What True Diversification Looked Like in 2008

Davis makes the case with history: an investor holding 30% of their portfolio in physical gold and silver going into 2008 — when most Americans lost roughly half their portfolios — would have finished with a slight gain. Gold rose about 200% and silver more than 400% across that period. “As one went down, the other went up. That’s true diversification,” he says, describing precious metals as a natural hedge — especially with today’s stock market concentration, where AI names now make up close to 20% of the S&P 500.

How to Learn More

Davis and his team at American Alternative Assets put together a free report to help investors understand how this shift works and how to take advantage of it — including 2026 price outlooks for precious metals. It’s educational material, not a sales pitch, and it’s available at no cost below.