The Endgame for Fiat? Currency, Credit, and the Case for Gold

November 3, 2024 • 47 second read

I am travelling this weekend so today’s thought piece is a conversation, which Mining Network recorded last week week between veteran gold guru, Alasdair Macleod, and myself.

It’s heavyweight goldbug stuff. I hope you enjoy it.

You can watch it below, but I have also ripped the audio so you have the option to listen to that if you prefer to escape the clutch of your screens.

If you are thinking of buying gold to protect yourself in these uncertain times, I recommend The Pure Gold Company. Pricing is competitive, quality of service is high. They deliver to the UK, US, Canada and Europe or you can store your gold with them. More here.

I’ll be MCing this year’s Moneyweek Summit this coming Friday November 8th. Readers of the Flying Frisby can get a 20% discount by entering the code FRISBY20

And if you are interested in hearing more from Alasdair, he has a Substack too.

Beneath the Surface

The Endgame for Fiat? Currency, Credit, and the Case for Gold

Dominic Frisby

November 3, 2024 • 47 second read

fiat currencies gold

I am travelling this weekend so today’s thought piece is a conversation, which Mining Network recorded last week week between veteran gold guru, Alasdair Macleod, and myself.

It’s heavyweight goldbug stuff. I hope you enjoy it.

You can watch it below, but I have also ripped the audio so you have the option to listen to that if you prefer to escape the clutch of your screens.

I’ll be MCing this year’s Moneyweek Summit this coming Friday November 8th. Readers of the Flying Frisby can get a 20% discount by entering the code FRISBY20

And if you are interested in hearing more from Alasdair, he has a Substack too.

China Just Rewrote the Silver Story

January 8, 2026 • Lau Vegys

Roughly 70–80% of global silver supply comes as a byproduct of mining other metals—copper, lead, zinc, gold. This means that even if silver prices doubled tomorrow, production wouldn’t automatically increase unless mining of those other metals ramped up too. You can’t just “decide” to mine more silver.

Layer China’s export controls on top of all that, and you’re looking at a supply profile that’s unusually tight—and unusually vulnerable.

A Low-Stress Start to the Year

January 8, 2026 • Addison Wiggin

The High Yield Bond Distress Index measures levels in the junk bond market, including liquidity, market functionality, and how easily companies can borrow.

A reading this low signals extremely healthy borrowing conditions for high-yield issuers. It’s also where we would look for distress in the corporate AI build out debt issuance.

And if the high yield bond market isn’t worried yet, stock market pullbacks are likely to be short and shallow – and will likely play a role in a midyear “crack-up boom.”

The Silver Switch

January 7, 2026 • Addison Wiggin

In late December, just days before the controls took effect, silver in Shanghai traded near $78 per ounce, while the COMEX closed closer to $72. A six-dollar gap.

Normally, that spread would collapse almost instantly. Traders would buy cheap metal and sell it at a higher price until the prices converged.

Since January 1, 2026, that hasn’t happened.

Physical silver inside China carried a premium that paper markets couldn’t erase.

At the same time, London’s bullion market slipped into what traders call “backwardation” — buyers willing to pay more now than later, a classic signal of supply stress.

This is what it looks like when settlement frictions appear.

The Dollar Wanes as Gold Surges

January 7, 2026 • Addison Wiggin

The U.S. dollar is being dethroned from the global monetary system in real time.

While many have pointed out – correctly – that the buck is still the global trading currency of choice, the rise of gold for savings is the real story here… even with Dollar 2.0 digital assets rebooting global finance.

Following gold’s 60% rally in 2025, we expect gold’s uptrend to remain intact.

China Just Rewrote the Silver Story

January 8, 2026 • Lau Vegys

Layer China’s export controls on top of all that, and you’re looking at a supply profile that’s unusually tight—and unusually vulnerable.

A Low-Stress Start to the Year

January 8, 2026 • Addison Wiggin

The High Yield Bond Distress Index measures levels in the junk bond market, including liquidity, market functionality, and how easily companies can borrow.

A reading this low signals extremely healthy borrowing conditions for high-yield issuers. It’s also where we would look for distress in the corporate AI build out debt issuance.

And if the high yield bond market isn’t worried yet, stock market pullbacks are likely to be short and shallow – and will likely play a role in a midyear “crack-up boom.”

The Silver Switch

January 7, 2026 • Addison Wiggin

In late December, just days before the controls took effect, silver in Shanghai traded near $78 per ounce, while the COMEX closed closer to $72. A six-dollar gap.

Normally, that spread would collapse almost instantly. Traders would buy cheap metal and sell it at a higher price until the prices converged.

Since January 1, 2026, that hasn’t happened.

Physical silver inside China carried a premium that paper markets couldn’t erase.

At the same time, London’s bullion market slipped into what traders call “backwardation” — buyers willing to pay more now than later, a classic signal of supply stress.

This is what it looks like when settlement frictions appear.

The Dollar Wanes as Gold Surges

January 7, 2026 • Addison Wiggin

The U.S. dollar is being dethroned from the global monetary system in real time.

Following gold’s 60% rally in 2025, we expect gold’s uptrend to remain intact.