BRICS’ Gold‑Anchored "Unit" and CBDC Links Could Accelerate De‑Dollarization

BRICS’ “Unit” prototype and a push for cross-border CBDC links are quietly reshaping the payments landscape — and could accelerate the bloc’s long‑talked de‑dollarization. What’s new - The Unit is a gold‑anchored digital trade currency pilot intended for BRICS settlements. Researchers launched the pilot on October 31, 2025, and revealed a prototype on December 8, 2025. It was developed by IRIAS (International Research Institute for Advanced Systems). - The Unit’s proposed composition: 40 grams of physical gold plus a 60% weighting in member currencies, split equally (12% each) among the Brazilian real, Chinese yuan, Indian rupee, Russian ruble and South African rand. - Important qualification: the Unit is a prototype — not a central bank digital currency (CBDC) or a crypto stablecoin. Its design is closest to Keynes’ bancor concept: a basket‑based, non‑redeemable settlement unit. Why it matters - By making gold part of daily settlement rather than merely a reserve asset, the Unit would change gold’s role in international trade and provide a mechanism for members to reduce reliance on dollar‑centric infrastructure and correspondent banking. - Russian economist Yevgeny Biryukov summarized the rationale: “For BRICS countries, gold is a tool to protect against sanction risks, a response to the unreliability of traditional partners, and a tangible asset recognised for thousands of years.” A coordinated move into gold - BRICS central banks now hold more than 6,000 tonnes of gold in aggregate: Russia 2,336 t, China 2,298 t, India 880 t. Between 2020 and 2024, BRICS central banks purchased over half of global central bank gold demand. - Brazil boosted reserves with a 16‑tonne buy in September 2025 (its first purchase since 2021), taking reserves to 145.1 t. - World Gold Council data: central banks bought more than 1,000 tonnes of gold per year from 2022–24 — the longest sustained buying streak in modern history. - BRICS and strategic partners now control roughly 50% of global gold production; China mined ~380 t in 2025 and Russia ~340 t. CBDC interoperability push — India leading - India, host of the 2026 BRICS summit, has asked for a formal agenda item to link member CBDCs for trade finance and tourism payments — the first explicit proposal to interconnect CBDCs across BRICS. - The Reserve Bank of India points to the e‑rupee’s momentum (about 7 million retail users since its Dec 2022 debut), and features such as offline payments and programmable transfers for subsidy distribution as proof of concept. - RBI Deputy Governor T. Rabi Sankar warned about unregulated alternatives: “Beyond the facilitation of illicit payments and circumvention of control measures, stablecoins raise significant concerns for monetary stability, fiscal policy, banking intermediation and systemic resilience.” India is positioning the e‑rupee as a regulated alternative for cross‑border CBDC rails. Macro context: falling dollar share and rising alternatives - IMF: the US dollar’s share of global foreign‑exchange reserves slipped to 58% at end‑2024 (down from 65% a decade earlier). Foreign holdings of US Treasuries have fallen from ~50% in 2014 to roughly a third today. - Watcher.Guru’s De‑Dollarization Tracker shows 55 countries using non‑dollar currencies for some international transactions. Oil trading — long dominated by the dollar — saw about 20% of trades in non‑USD currencies in 2023. - Public anxiety around dollar “debasement” spiked in late 2025 (Google Trends data cited by Bloomberg). - The Financial Times quoted Deutsche Bank’s global head of FX research warning of broad weaknesses in US asset prices and signalling “uncharted territory” for the global financial system. Roadblocks and what’s next - The Unit remains experimental. For it to become a shared settlement layer, BRICS central banks would need to resolve governance, volatility management, reserve contributions and stress‑testing arrangements. Interoperable technology, legal frameworks and imbalances‑settlement mechanisms are essential prerequisites. - Adoption will hinge on whether members treat the prototype as a research exercise or a blueprint for a common clearing unit. If successful, the Unit — along with CBDC interoperability — would be a meaningful challenge to dollar dominance by embedding gold and local currencies in day‑to‑day trade settlement. Bottom line The Unit prototype and India’s CBDC linkage push aren't overnight revolutionaries, but they crystallize a clear strategic direction: using gold and alternative payment rails to reduce exposure to dollar risks. For crypto and payments markets, that means watching BRICS not just as gold buyers, but as active architects of alternative cross‑border settlement infrastructure. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news