De-dollarization: Is the US dollar losing its dominance? (2025) • Hacker News Board

Re: De-dollarization: Is the US dollar losing its dominance? (2025)

#441

Post by jacquesm » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 6:27 PM UTC

KaiserPro wrote: post #389

nubg wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Our of curiosity as I know nothing about economics, how would not printing miney lead to a Great Depression?

one of the big problems of the great depression was banks went bankrupt left right and centre, and took everyone's life savings with them. Also as a lot of banks generally hold mortgages in their portfolio, so when a bank collapses it means that mortgages all get fucky too. So the mass printing of money meant that banks didn't collapse. It also meant that a fucktonne of cash went into the hands of the uber rich.

This is one of the reasons safety nets on savings exist in both the USA and in Europe (and probably other places as well about which I'm less informed). Even so, the tacit understanding is that this is more about preventing bank runs than about the practical effects on the currencies involved because it could very well be that that insurance will pay out in money that is worthless.

Re: De-dollarization: Is the US dollar losing its dominance? (2025)

#442

Post by ferguess_k » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 6:27 PM UTC

fnordsensei wrote: post #331

ferguess_k wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not so fast, though. A state can be a "killer", or a "giver", or both, to gain followers and sell its currency to other states. The US was both back in the 40s as well as the late 80s when Germany and USSR crumbled. So hail to Pax Americana. However, the US is more of a "killer" nowadays. The "killer" is usually more efficient than the "giver", because people value their life more than their wallet. So that's why I t…

Is it more efficient though? It just looks like burning long term prospects for short term ones. Which is on brand with the current regime to be fair.

Yeah it's more short term, I agree.

Re: De-dollarization: Is the US dollar losing its dominance? (2025)

#443

Post by nonethewiser » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 6:27 PM UTC

parsimo2010 wrote: post #138

softwaredoug wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s not just that This is a gradual decline. From 70% in the 90s to 60% today. Today there are more options like the Euro that didn’t exist in the 90s. People can argue over EU economic stability, but it’s there as reasonable option.

As time goes on, fewer people are alive that predate the EU and more people will perceive it as a lasting institution. Additionally, we've now seen the EU survive the departure of a major economic power (the UK). More people are certainly willing to believe in the stability of the EU now. Another major currency is the Yuan, and some countries may be as willing to trade in Yuan to improve relations with China, so perh…

I partially agree. But the EU is in a pretty unstable state as incomplete government structure over a collection of peers. "Unstable" does not mean it's going to fall apart. It means it's going to fall apart or coalesce into a single thing (a new country). Or maybe a little of both (a new country with some fringe members leaving).

It might not be in 5 or 10 years but it's inevitable. It's not going to operate like this for 50, 100 years.

Just run a mental simulation of WW2 playing out except Europe had the EU.

So while I agree the EU is becoming more an more normal and important to the average citizen, there will come a time when it has to either solidify further or break apart, and I think it's basically a crapshoot to predict how that will go now when we have basically zero info.

Re: De-dollarization: Is the US dollar losing its dominance? (2025)

#444

Post by spookie » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 6:28 PM UTC

nubg wrote: post #329

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your ruler is no longer following the rules of law, nor the foundational constitution. USA ended with their declaration of dictatorship and the failure of your houses/legislature/military to act against that and defend the Constitution. I can't see how, since the end of habeas corpus , you can claim legal stability. Your leader is World renowned for reneging on debts and is demanding bribes for companies to operate.…

Why is this getting downvoted?

Mostly an US audience here. A deeply divided country on politics. The wording doesn't help matters either.

It's unfortunate the same division tactics the US has been facing are working elsewhere too, however.

Re: De-dollarization: Is the US dollar losing its dominance? (2025)

#445

Post by mythical_39 » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 6:28 PM UTC

shevy-java wrote: post #115

Let's hope so. The USA has become very aggressive under the TechBro rule.

many of whom are jacked on testosterone supplements.

The aggressiveness might be related to that.

https://www.them.us/story/testosterone-parties-silicon-valle... https://stand.ie/stand-newsroom/political-power-testosterone

Re: De-dollarization: Is the US dollar losing its dominance? (2025)

#446

Post by krupan » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 6:28 PM UTC

adamc wrote: post #240

krupan wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People downvote this but Bitcoin has some very nice properties: - easy to verify/impossible to forge (as opposed to gold and paper currency) - fixed supply (as opposed to paper currency, oil, and even gold) - easy to transfer from one party to another (as opposed to gold, oil, and physical cash)

Suffers from no government having a stake in it. If it causes them problems, it can easily become illegal.

Lots of countries outlaw other country's currencies. This is nothing unique to Bitcoin when we are talking about a world currency to replace dollars.

Re: De-dollarization: Is the US dollar losing its dominance? (2025)

#447

Post by jacquesm » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 6:28 PM UTC

throwaway290 wrote: post #210

mothballed wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does it mean that the Federal Reserve is "independent within the government"? The Federal Reserve, like many other central banks, is an independent government agency The federal reserve calls themselves "within the government" and a government agency. Isn't it fraud (and indeed wire fraud) to falsely represent yourself as a government agency to induce a financial transaction? https://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/…

> Isn't it fraud (and indeed wire fraud) to falsely represent yourself as a government agency to induce a financial transaction? Hmm what transaction it induces? You'll need to check the law that created the Fed. Maybe it makes sure that doing whatever the fed needs to do the job is not a crime

This character espouses a lot of the same drivel that the 'sovereign citizens' tend to throw around.

Re: De-dollarization: Is the US dollar losing its dominance? (2025)

#448

Post by 9x39 » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 6:29 PM UTC

nubg wrote: post #329

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your ruler is no longer following the rules of law, nor the foundational constitution. USA ended with their declaration of dictatorship and the failure of your houses/legislature/military to act against that and defend the Constitution. I can't see how, since the end of habeas corpus , you can claim legal stability. Your leader is World renowned for reneging on debts and is demanding bribes for companies to operate.…

Why is this getting downvoted?

It's hysteria in the addictive, viral, breathless, and self-indulgent social media flavor that permeates everything.

The excitement being blown out of proportion is hyperlocal. The system grinds on.

Re: De-dollarization: Is the US dollar losing its dominance? (2025)

#449

Post by tialaramex » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 6:29 PM UTC

Winblows11 wrote: post #282

pavlov wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The answer is already clear: Britain regrets the move more. In June 2025, 56% of people in Great Britain thought it was the wrong decision: https://www.statista.com/statistics/987347/brexit-opinion-po... It's hard to imagine this number would be going down after recent events like USA suddenly threatening arbitrary new tariffs on the UK.

But only 56% in a poll? Is that enough for another referendum and guarantee rejoin? EU politicians have made it clear, ALL UK opt-outs will be gone if UK rejoins, whether it is UK opt-out regarding budget (like paying billions less in annual EU fees like UK did before), to special fishing rights pre-Brexit, to forced to adopt Euro currency and drop Pound sterling.

Rejoining is seen as politically too risky in the short term. As you observe, the UK would not get back its privileged position, there are probably some bargains to be struck but a track to the Euro currency is almost certainly mandatory and that'd be unpopular because people really like our banknotes for some reason and the Euro deliberately just looks like play money, the illustrations deliberately don't show real structures to avoid associations with the nations where those things were built.

But while "Leaving was a bad idea" isn't enough to seriously push for actual re-entry to the EU it's certainly a good sign for the EU and for the Euro. The EU is a massive bureaucracy, and I think we underestimated how much "a massive bureaucracy" might be the thing we wanted in this role..

Re: De-dollarization: Is the US dollar losing its dominance? (2025)

#450

Post by liuliu » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 6:29 PM UTC

echelon wrote: post #195

renewiltord wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed. People are actively trying to repair something which cannot be fixed. Now that the US century is over, the only way forward is for the US to use present military power as a cudgel. Given that the multipolar world is nigh, the only path forward is through. If America and her erstwhile allies are no longer aligned, then any attempt by America to repair this is doomed. Consequently, Trump’s approach is the only…

> Consequently, Trump’s approach is the only way forward. It's the DoD. Prior to Trump's actions, the American-led "world order" seemed to work, even if we couldn't get China to agree to a "Bretton Woods 2.0". Biden tried diplomacy with the EU. He tried to get them to agree to a renewed US-led world order, but it wasn't working. The EU decided to play the US and China against each other to improve its own standing, w…

> I think the US could seriously pull out of NATO and leave the EU to fend off Russia by itself. It'll have to start spending enormous tax dollars on defense and war.

Disagree. If US pulls out of NATO, most likely scenario is EU continue to concede to Russia. I think EU will concede on Greenland too, but likely won't do it without any military action (unclear whether that will trigger nuclear escalation and how that can end).