From Petrodollars to Electrodollars

The New Global Power Play

May 19, 2025

For 50 years, the U.S. dollar has been propped up by one thing most Americans never think about:

Oil.

When the petrodollar system took shape in the 1970s, it wasn't just a trade agreement — it was a geopolitical masterstroke.

The U.S. guaranteed Saudi security. In return, oil was priced in dollars, forcing the world to keep vast reserves of USD to buy energy.

It quietly created an artificial demand floor for the dollar.

But today, something bigger is happening — and it’s unfolding in plain sight:

The future is no longer priced in barrels. It’s stored in batteries.

As oil’s grip loosens, lithium, cobalt, copper, and rare earths are taking center stage.

These aren’t just inputs for EVs. They’re energy reserves — the new collateral of industrial strength.

In this emerging world, nations and companies don’t just need dollars.

They need control of materials that power electrification. Whoever controls those, controls economic velocity.

Elon doesn’t talk like a central banker. But functionally? He’s behaving like one.

Tesla isn’t just making cars. It’s locking up access to strategic commodities.
Musk is doing direct deals with lithium miners, refining capacity buyers, and regional governments.
He’s even hinted at going into mining himself to secure supply chains.

This isn’t just vertical integration. It’s monetary strategy disguised as logistics.

If oil made kings, battery metals are making technocrats.

China controls over 60% of global rare earth refining.
Saudi Arabia is building out battery factories and EV partnerships.
India and Brazil are exploring lithium partnerships outside of USD settlement frameworks.
And the BRICS bloc? Quietly building the architecture to trade these commodities in currencies other than the dollar.

The world isn’t ditching the dollar overnight. But it's diversifying away from its monopoly.

And that’s what power transitions look like in real time.

Let’s be clear: the dollar is still strong on paper.

But it's not about strength. It’s about utility.

If nations can secure energy without transacting in dollars — why keep holding them?

Petrodollars created artificial demand. Electrodollars may create a world where dollars are optional.

That’s a structural shift — not a crisis, but a recalibration.

Here’s how to think about it as a reader, investor, or citizen:

Watch what the builders are buying. Musk, mining giants, and sovereign wealth funds are chasing energy metals — not paper.
Understand value migration. The narrative is still about inflation and interest rates. But the real story is about the commodities that power the next era.
Diversify around energy, not headlines. Ignore the daily dollar noise. Track energy security, battery supply chains, and mineral bottlenecks.

The Fed prints money. But Musk — and others like him — are cornering what money will need to buy in a post-petrodollar world.

We’re not witnessing collapse.

We’re witnessing a repricing of power.

Until next time,
Death of the Dollar

P.S. Here’s How Clipped Coins and Broken Promises Brought Down the World’s Strongest Empires