Submitted by Bill Holter via Jim Sinclair's Mineset blog,

What a tangled web the global geopolitical situation has become. Geopolitics and finance have always been interrelated but recently much more so. As many readers know, I have speculated we would be hit over the head with a “truth bomb” from the East and most likely from Mr. Putin himself. Just this week Britain has alleged Mr. Putin personally ordered a “hit” on an ex KGB agent for calling him a pedophile. Another story came out that Turkey shot down a NATO helicopter which made no press coverage at all in the West. Also, Victoria Nuland recently travelled to Russia and was refused an audience by Mr. Putin. This, after John Kerry had a meeting where he went into it saying “Assad must go” and came out saying Mr. Assad can stay … Why all of this now? I would simply say this reeks of desperation and also a VERY dangerous strategy to attack Mr. Putin personally. I say “dangerous” because it raises the likelihood of a response from him. Can you imagine the outrage were Russia to accuse president Obama or the Prime Minister Cameron of Britain for ordering the murder of someone who called them a pedophile?

Before going any further, I believe nearly ALL of what we are seeing is centered by and on the “petrodollar”. Will it survive or be replaced? In my opinion it is no longer “if”, but “when” and by “what” will it be replaced with? Just over the last two weeks we have seen three very important yet interrelated events.

First, the sanctions against Iran in place over the last 35 years were lifted. Along with this comes the ability for Iran to sell oil and they will now have access to up to $150 billion worth of assets and accounts previously frozen as reported by many credible non-government sources. The day after, we saw 10 U.S. captured sailors on their knees as they were said to have “strayed” into Iranian water. The official U.S. account has changed at least twice. We heard “mechanical failure” at first, this is unlikely as there were reportedly two separate vessels. If one had mechanical problems, the other could have tied off and either towed it or held it steady until help could arrive. Then the story changed to “navigational” problems. This one I believe …but not the official story they “strayed” into Iranian water. Again, if it was just one boat, maybe their navigation system malfunctioned …at the same time their communications failed …MAYBE? But both boats …at the same time lost their comm and navigation systems? Probably a better chance one of these sailors winning the Powerball lottery two weeks in a row! Speculation on my part, I believe the electronics were somehow hacked or blocked just as happened with the Donald Cook in the Black Sea in late 2014. Just a couple of days ago, President Xi of China met with Iranian leaders one day and then the Saudis the following day. We can only speculate what was discussed but surely oil was the centerpiece. Naturally China wants to make and diversify oil supply deals from them both. We have no proof but I believe it is a very good bet President Xi told the Saudis they would be expected to accept yuan for settlement instead of dollars. There is no denying, the Chinese have done everything in their power to prepare for the dollar being dumped as the world’s reserve currency. You can argue about timing, you cannot argue about “intent” as China/Russia have set up non Western clearing facilities similar to SWIFT but without any Western interference, trade deals, currency hubs, trading banks, and even gold and oil exchanges where the dollar will not be welcome.

It is not tough to tie all of this together. I ask you this, what would the world look like the day following a “truth bomb” dropped by Mr. Putin and the Chinese. Would Americans even notice if he documented several false flags or frauds embedded in U.S. finance such as outright monetization of U.S Treasuries? No, most certainly not. Americans would however notice if financial markets collapsed or were shut down. Russia and China know full well the situation in the West. It is a bankruptcy waiting to happen as everything is fractional reserve and running on maximum margin while the underlying system is shrinking and no longer supplying enough liquidity. The way I see it, the stage is truly set for a financial attack on anything and everything American. Is it implausible for the Saudis to announce they will sell oil in yuan to China? Or Iran to withdraw their funds from U.S. institutions and then bid for gold with these funds? If the East does in fact have jamming or hacking capability of Western technology, is it far fetched for them to show it very publicly in one or several situations? How would the “bookies” react if they saw a prize fighter enter one of the later rounds with his hands tied behind his back?

You can laugh at the above speculation if you choose but it is all quite plausible and actually probable if you look at where things are and what posturing has already been done leading up to this. Western markets, ALL markets are a fraud. Our Treasury market is one where the biggest buyer is “our self” …the Fed and the ESF. We have already seen $1 trillion of foreign reserves offloaded with no effect on yield nor the dollar itself and NO ACCOUNTING ANYWHERE as to “who” bought these offloaded central bank reserves. Accounting fraud and no rule of law here, nothing to see …please move along! You can laugh if you want and say Saudi Arabia will never move toward the East … Saudi Arabia is now in very dire straits financially, who do you think they will side with when Western markets melt down? Do you really believe they will go down trying to support our dollar?