Back in March 2022, Russia faced sanctions intended to cut it off from the global financial system.

The West – with President Joe Biden in the lead – condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and aimed to hit it where it hurts by removing top Russian banks from the SWIFT network.

Every day, trillions of dollars change hands using SWIFT. SWIFT processes more than 40 million messages a day – and over 1% likely involved Russian payments.

So cutting Russia out of the loop would lead to delays… added costs… and lost revenue. A former Russian finance minister estimated that the sanctions could reduce Russia’s economy by 5%.

Yet here we are, over a year later, and the results are becoming ever clearer…

The SWIFT sanctions intended to weaken Russia have backfired.

Biden’s Blunder

The Biden administration’s support of the SWIFT ban is a sermon on unintended consequences.

Sure, the ruble sank nearly 26% immediately after the sanctions. But its weakness didn’t last long. It soared as much as 40% against a weakening dollar in the months that followed.

And unlike predictions of collapse, the International Monetary Fund claims Russia’s economy could grow by 0.7% in 2023 – largely due to the country’s oil exports to China and India.

Yet that’s not the only way the sanctions have led to unexpected impacts…

Unsurprisingly, Russia didn’t take its exclusion from SWIFT sitting down. And instead of withering its economy, the sanctions energized its plans against the U.S. dollar.

Within a couple of months, Russia made plans for its own alternative to the SWIFT system – the System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS). As of September, Russia reported 50 new entities had joined SPFS.

And it wasn’t working on this problem alone either.

China has been developing its Cross-Border Interbank Payment System since 2015. And now it and Russia are working together to create a viable replacement for SWIFT.

Additionally, in January, Iran and Russia linked their banking systems – strengthening ties and enabling them to trade more easily without needing SWIFT.

And this past April, Venezuela and Russia announced their partnership to develop a SWIFT alternative.

This is just the start. More and more countries are seeing the value in moving away from SWIFT… and, critically, its dollar denomination.

The sanctions have motivated Russia and other nations to look for banking solutions that don’t rely on staying in the good graces of Western countries.

Dmitry Birichevsky, director of the Department of Economic Cooperation in the Russian Foreign Ministry, said, “The rejection of the Western-centric financial system in favor of a multi-currency world is inevitable in [the] foreseeable future.”

And Russian President Vladimir Putin himself said in March, “We are in favor of using the Chinese yuan for settlements between Russia and the countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America.”

That’s creating a setup for an attack on the U.S. dollar later this year.

The Attack on the Dollar

At least 41 countries – with Russia leading the way – want to hurt the U.S. dollar.

In particular, Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia are making plans for revenge. They’re tired of tariffs, sanctions, and dollar-denominated debt.

Now they see an opportunity to act.

On August 22, a core group of countries are setting us on the path to make their vision a reality.

The last time we saw such a dramatic shift in the financial landscape, the dollar lost 45% of its value. And with the upcoming change, commodities like oil and gold could move big.

One way or another, they’re set to shake up the status quo… and create incredible volatility.

That’s why I’m hosting the Dollar End-Date Summit on Saturday, July 29… to help you get ready before August 22.

There, I’ll explain what’s about to happen… and the seriousness of this threat to dollar dominance.

But even more importantly, I’ll showcase my strategy for not only getting through this upset… but thriving.

This strategy could add as much as $192,000 to your wealth in the coming year. And at the Dollar End-Date Summit, I’ll show you how.

So I’d like to invite you to join me on Saturday, July 29, for this event. You can instantly sign up to attend for free by going right here.

Regards,

Larry Benedict
Editor, Trading With Larry Benedict