A rebellion against the US dollar is preparing, and it is no longer to speak. The countries of the Brics group and beyond see a chance to free themselves from American financial domination. They use new digital currencies to forge their own path. It is not a busy fashion. It is a deliberate game to regain control of their savings, dodge American sanctions and build a system of money that does not cross Washington.
The dollar has become a weapon. The American power to freeze the countries of the global financial system turned against him, pushing nations like Russia, China and Iran to find and create bypass. For the biggest players of the BRICS Alliance, the scam of the dollar power is part of a larger game.
Mathematics also work in their favor. When two countries are negotiated, they often have to convert their money into dollars, then return, adding additional costs.
The use of new digital platforms to negotiate directly in their own currencies would eliminate the intermediary, would save a fortune and protect them from the shocks of American economic policy.
New tools – digital cash, crypto and fast killer
This fight against the US dollar occurs on a new technological battlefield. Weapons of choice are the digital currencies of the central bank (CBDC), the crypto and the brand new payment networks.
China and Russia
China is in front of its digital yuan (E-CNY). This is a key element of their plan to make the renminbi a global player and reduce his dependence on the fast payment network. Beijing is already pushing E-CNY for trade with its belt and road allies.
For Russia, being written by Western sanctions has made its digital ruble an absolute priority. Moscow officials consider this to make international payments again, the first foreign transactions planned for the end of 2025 and a complete deployment by 2027.
Silver club club
BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – work together to build their own financial world. They put pressure for more trade in their own local currencies and create shared payment systems like the BRICS.
The goal is to have an alternative to the dollar -based system, protecting them from American economic pressure and sanctions.
Project Mbridge – A Swift rival
Perhaps the biggest threat to the old system is the Mbridge project. It is a joint effort of the central banks of China, Hong Kong, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and the Bank for the International Colonies (BIS). They built a large shared digital book which allows instant direct payments through borders.
It reduces the need for slow and costly corresponding banks, promising to reduce transaction costs by half and transform expectations of several days in seconds. While Swift tries to make up for the catch -up of digital currencies, Mbridge is a overhaul of the landing of how money moves.
| Functionality | Mbridge project | FAST |
|---|---|---|
| Under the hood | Shared digital ledger (DLT) | Coded messaging system |
| How the money moves | Instantly, directly between the parts | Step by step through intermediate banks |
| Intermediaries | Especially left | Essential for each transaction |
| Speed | A few seconds | Hours, sometimes days |
| Cost | Could be up to 50% cheaper | Higher due to bank charges |
| How it is secure | Advanced cryptography | Centralized and secure messaging |
Blocks, dangers and the end of petrodollar
This walk to a world with many large currencies could make things more effective, but it is also likely to divide the world into financial blocks. If different digital currency systems cannot speak, this could create new headache for trade.
Global companies may have to juggle a vertiginous currency range and rethink all their supply chains.
The system that supports the value of the US dollar with petroleum sales also gets a direct blow. The 1974 handshake which made the dollar essential oil of oil.
Saudi Arabia recently left the Expirement agreement, which could mean that oil will soon be sold in a mixture of currencies like the Yuan or the Euro. This would eliminate a major pillar supporting the economic power of America.
Espionage, loss of control and broken promises
This digital money revolution offers enormous opportunities, but it is also delivered with serious attached channels.
- The Tout -ouil coin – CBDCs can be programmed, which means that governments can integrate rules directly into money. Critics, including the IMF, sound the alarm. They fear that without iron legal protections to everything, these currencies could allow governments to follow each purchase, block certain transactions and destroy financial privacy. This fear sparked a political reaction, the American house even transmitting a bill to prevent the Fed from creating a retail CBDC.
- Digital Takeover – For small countries, the dream of a better bank for their citizens is darken by the fear of losing control. If a foreign digital currency or a stablecoin becomes too popular – a trend that the IMF calls “cryptocurrency” – it could link the hands of the local central bank and leave the economy at the mercy of the policies of another country.
Large goals, bad results!
The first real CBDC tests were a reality control.
- Nigeria’s tunesLaunched in 2021 to bring more people to the banking system, was a flop. At the beginning of 2024, it represented less than 1% of the money supply, and 98.5% of Enaira portfolios were not used from one week to the other.
- The big bet of El Salvador on Bitcoin also missed the brand. Bitcoin an official currency in 2021 has not made its way with the public, and by 2024, only 8.1% of people used it. The government had to abolish the law forcing companies to accept it at the beginning of 2025 to obtain a loan from the IMF.
Don’t count USD yet!
Even with all these challenges, the dollar does not disappear tomorrow. Its power is locked by a simple fact – everyone uses it because everyone uses it. American financial markets are also unrivaled in their size and reliability.
- The network is everything – Most world exchanges are at the cost of dollars, even when the United States is not involved. It is simply easier for global companies to stick to a currency than everyone accepts.
- A safety port – No other financial market in the country, in particular the colossal of the American treasury, can offer the same security and the same ease of access. When the world becomes nervous, money managers run towards the dollar, which only makes it stronger.
- No real competitor – For the moment, there is no clear replacement. The euro is retained by the policy, and the Chinese yuan is limited by the close control of the government on its money.
The Global Money rules book is being rewritten at the moment. A complete collapse of a dollar seems unlikely, but the transition to a world with several competing currency areas is already occurring.
Today’s digital money experiences shape that will hold economic and political power for the years to come.
