Iran and China are pushing new steps to weaken the US dollar's grip on the oil market, bad news for the dollar and for US influence over global energy.

• Iran's parliament has floated a bill to ban US, Israeli, and other "hostile" ships from the Strait of Hormuz, the channel that carries a fifth of the world's oil.
• Iran is reportedly charging transit fees in crypto and Chinese yuan instead of dollars, and selling oil to China and other BRICS countries outside the dollar system.
• This is why the US pressured Iran and Venezuela — to slow BRICS nations from trading energy without the dollar.
• China has bought gold for 20 straight months and is steering money away from US government bonds, and other central banks are copying the move.
• At the same time, Japanese investors are dumping US Treasuries, pushing bond yields up and drying up cash in the system.

Outlook: Pressure on the dollar looks set to grow as more countries trade oil outside it, though gold and stocks could still fall together in the near term because of heavy borrowing in the market.