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China is quietly destroying the dollar ... and that'll cost you
By Charlie Garcia
MarketWatch, New York
Tuesday, December 16, 2025
China controls the rare earths. China controls the cobalt. China, through its Belt and Road spending spree, now controls most of the mines in Africa that produce the stuff inside your phone, your car, and your refrigerator.
And now China has figured out how to price and settle all of it without using a single U.S. dollar.
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South African banking giant Standard Bank Group, Africa's largest lender, has quietly integrated with China's Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS). In June, Standard Bank secured its CIPS license; in September the new rail went live, and by November Africa's first direct yuan, or renminbi, channel was open, a seemingly dry banking milestone that in reality shifted a crucial line on the hidden map of global power.
The financial press buried it under Federal Reserve noise and earnings reports. Everyone kept scrolling. But the dollar's monopoly is cracking.
It matters to you. Not because you trade cobalt futures, but because when the U.S. dollar loses its monopoly on pricing critical resources, your purchasing power shrinks. That shows up at the grocery store, at the gas pump, and in every aisle of every store. You just won't know why.
Here's what happened: A payment that used to take three to five days now takes seven seconds. Costs dropped 98%. A cobalt shipment from Congo to Shanghai now settles in Chinese yuan, without touching New York and without anyone in Washington getting a vote.
The dollar just got cut out of the transaction entirely.
This isn't about banking plumbing. It's about power. Who sets commodity prices. Who controls sanctions. Who gets to define the term "risk-free." For 50 years, that's been the U.S. Not anymore. ...
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