# RISE of the American Empire with Brent Johnson

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-bitcoin-layer-7070444/rise-of-the-american-empire-with-brent-johnson
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-bitcoin-layer-7070444/rise-of-the-american-empire-with-brent-johnson.md
Podcast: [The Bitcoin Layer](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-bitcoin-layer-7070444)
Published: 2026-03-25T11:05:00+00:00
Episode link: https://mysoundwise.com/soundcasts/1665708396190s
Audio file: https://cdn.simplecast.com/media/audio/transcoded/8ed6a33d-2ac9-4ae6-bdbb-334a1cbb3f52/93f29295-b98b-46ce-9822-223c512497e8/episodes/audio/group/b357fefd-6eb1-41c2-b4d4-76850d31fe44/group-item/d06853eb-1c92-4313-be2c-557d4b3499e2/128_default_tc.mp3?aid=rss_feed&feed=Y2219Riv
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-bitcoin-layer-7070444/episodes/rise-of-the-american-empire-with-brent-johnson
Duration seconds: 3427

## Resource

In this episode, Nik welcomes back Brent Johnson of Santiago Capital for a wide-ranging global macro conversation. Brent breaks down the dollar's behavior during geopolitical crises, the deglobalization thesis and fracturing supply chains, and his Rise of the American Empire framework drawing parallels to Rome's transition from republic to empire. They cover the Office of Strategic Capital's push to secure critical minerals and semiconductors, the US-China power competition over chips and rare earths, Persian Gulf risks including fertilizer disruptions and famine, and close with stablecoins, bitcoin as a pure play on global liquidity, and why digital assets are here to stay. The Bitcoin Layer and its guests do not provide investment advice.

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## Transcript

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