In March 2023, Russia had announced it was “spearheading the development of a new currency. It is to be used for cross-border trade by the BRICS nations: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.” As Joe Sullivan asserts, this new currency, backed by gold would ensure a new avenue for cross-border trade between BRICS nations and signals a viable trade competitor to the US Dollar.

This news comes as it was revealed China has continued to stockpile gold as Filip de Mott explains “China's central bank added 23 tons of gold to its reserves in June, marking an eighth consecutive increase. The country is stockpiling the safe-haven asset amid economic and geopolitical turmoil. The turn to gold also chips away at the US dollar's dominance, a traditional reserve currency.” Chinas increase in gold stockpiling signals the building blocks are in place for the BRICS currency to challenge the supremacy of the US dollar in trade, with Russia and China likely seeing the most extensive benefits of this shift out of the BRICS nations.

Despite the possible negative implications of de-dollarization by the BRICS currency, experts believe it is unlikely to pose a significant threat to the US dollar. As Sumayya Ismail argues, “analysts say the dollar will remain king for the foreseeable future. According to Weafer, we are still “decades” away from anything really challenging its dominance. He said that even if the BRICS create a common currency, it may eventually work similarly to the Euro, which has not seriously challenged the dollar’s dominance.” As the experts have sounded, the BRICS currency would likely have similar impacts on trade to the Euro, and its challenge to the US dollar is not cause for concern.