The Rio Reset Begins: Inside Day 1 of the BRICS Power Shift
Phillip and I spent 16 hours on planes and finally landed in Rio de Janeiro this morning. Despite gray skies, there's a sense of enormous anticipation in the air.
From the moment we stepped off the plane at Galeão International Airport, it was clear: Brazil is taking the BRICS 2025 summit very seriously. Everywhere we looked – from terminal billboards to baggage claim displays – bold signs proclaimed the summit's theme: Sovereignty, Stability, Solidarity.
This is not just another diplomatic summit. This is an inflection point.
Even the most mundane logistics of our arrival reinforced the high-stakes nature of this week. When we booked a car to our hotel near Copacabana, the service offered us two options: passenger sedan... or armored vehicle. Not SUV. Not luxury car. Level 3A bulletproof armored vehicle. (We opted for the sedan.)
Our driver, Renato, had shuttled multiple delegations just the day before – including senior visitors from both Saudi Arabia and South Africa. "Very important people," he said with a knowing smile. I grilled him (his English was quite good), though he wouldn’t reveal anything they discussed. He told me drivers, like priests and lawyers, were sworn to keep their clientele's secrets.
It didn’t really matter, though. Their presence here says enough.
Why we're here
Usually, I cover big developments in the economy and precious metals markets from my home office in Los Angeles. But this time is different. The official BRICS Summit kicks off July 6–7, but already this city is buzzing. The BRICS Business Council meets on July 4-5. Senior finance ministers and central bank governors are holding closed-door meetings all week.
This is a big deal.
For those who haven’t followed our coverage closely, BRICS – once shorthand for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – has massively expanded. New members like Saudi Arabia, Iran and Indonesia are now at the table. What unites these diverse nations? A shared desire to shrug off the yoke of Western financial dominance, and its poster boy, the U.S. dollar.
Just this week, BRICS finance ministers reaffirmed their intent to bypass the dollar entirely using new trade and settlement mechanisms. Dedollarization is no longer a fringe idea. It’s official BRICS policy.
And the U.S. is paying attention. President Donald Trump has already threatened 100% tariffs on countries that "manipulate their currencies to undermine the dollar." That’s not an idle threat (especially in the aftermath of the Liberation Day trade war). It’s a clear sign that Washington sees what’s happening here as a serious challenge to American financial power.
BGG - Transcript
We’ve just arrived in Rio de Janeiro. Next week will be the end of the summit. Of course, the Rio reset and we will be reporting live on the ground.
So stay tuned for updates.
Whenever confidence in a reserve currency begins to waver, history tells us that smart money pivots to safety. And right now, central banks around the world are doing just that. Every year since 2022, global central banks have added over 1,000 metric tons of gold bullion to their reserves.
Many of those purchases came from BRICS nations. Why? Two reasons:
- The BRICS nations aren't natural allies. Rather, they're partners of convenience. They don't quite trust one another's governments, let alone one another's currencies. They know they want to dedollarize, but they don't know what will ultimately replace the dollar as global reserve currency. So they're diversifying with the only reserve asset that requires no political trust and bears no counterparty risk: Physical precious metals.
- BRICS nations don't have sovereign debt burdens that we see across the G7. They can afford to add gold to their reserves without printing money to pay for it (after all, they're major exporters).
This leads us to an uncomfortable question. But it must be asked: If the dollar loses its vital role in international trade, how much would it cost each and every one of us? If central banks (our allies and adversaries alike) are preparing for a post-dollar era by diversifying with gold, well, shouldn't every American be doing the same?
What's next?
Here's what to expect moving forward.
This week, we’ll be on the ground in Rio, bringing you direct updates from the epicenter of this global financial realignment. We're going to the meetings, we're interrogating officials and we're determined to get the hard evidence necessary to reveal the Rio Reset to the world.
We'll even observe Independence Day here in Rio.
For the next eight days, we'll provide around-the-clock updates as we learn more.
Day 1 is in the books. I know we have a lot yet to do, and the stakes couldn’t be higher...
Stay tuned.
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