BRICS Launch Gold-Backed Currency Unit: Can It End Dollar Dominance?

The BRICS bloc (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa – now expanded to 11 countries) has quietly debuted a pilot digital currency called the Unit. Announced in December 2025 by Russia’s International Research Institute for Advanced Systems (IRIAS), the Unit is a gold-backed trade currency designed to settle cross-border transactions within the BRICS alliance. Each Unit is backed 40% by physical gold and 60% by a basket of BRICS currencies (Brazilian real, Chinese yuan, Indian rupee, Russian ruble, and South African rand).

The Unit is not intended for consumer use. Instead, it functions as a blockchain-based settlement token. Built on the Cardano network, the Unit is governed by a new international Unit Foundation. In a twist fit for 2025, the foundation even appointed an AI as its executive director to ensure neutrality and transparency.

The Basics: What Exactly Is “The Unit”?

Picture this: Five major economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) and their new partners want to trade billions in goods—oil from Russia, tech from China, minerals from Africa—without the middleman fees and sanctions risks of dollar-denominated deals. Enter The Unit, a blockchain-based prototype cooked up by Russia’s Institute for Economic Strategies (IRIAS).

Launched in a low-key “Pumpkin Batch” test on October 31, 2025, The Unit started life pegged at one gram of gold per unit. By early December, market jitters had nudged it down to about 0.98 grams, showing it’s built to flex with real-time values. It’s not for your everyday coffee run; this is institutional-grade stuff for governments and banks, running on Cardano’s permissioned blockchain for quick, secure settlements.

At its core, The Unit’s value draws from a simple basket:

• 40% physical gold: Pulled from member countries’ reserves, acting as a steady anchor against inflation.
• 60% member currencies: An equal split among the real (Brazil), yuan (China), rupee (India), ruble (Russia), and rand (South Africa).

This hybrid setup aims for stability without the volatility that plagues pure cryptos. For a deeper dive, check out this detailed breakdown from IntelliNews.

Why BRICS Is Turning to Gold

BRICS nations have long voiced concerns over their dependence on the U.S. dollar. Rising sanctions, fluctuating dollar valuations, and a desire for greater monetary sovereignty have pushed the bloc to explore alternative systems. The Unit represents a potential way to settle trade without needing to route transactions through dollar-dominated institutions.

Gold offers a familiar sense of stability. By pegging 40% of the Unit’s value to gold, BRICS hopes to reduce volatility and give members confidence in the currency’s purchasing power. The remaining 60% is a balanced mix of each BRICS member’s currency, giving the Unit a regional flavor and some resistance to shocks in any one economy.

Technical Architecture: The 40/60 Reserve Framework

At the heart of The Unit is a hybrid valuation model designed to provide both the stability of hard assets and the liquidity of sovereign currencies. The framework operates on a dual-asset foundation:

1. 40% Physical Gold: This portion acts as a “hard anchor.” In initial test phases, the Unit was valued against 40 grams of physical gold. By anchoring nearly half the unit’s value to gold, the BRICS bloc aims to create a “natural resistance” to inflation and currency volatility.
2. 60% BRICS Currency Basket: The remaining value is derived from a basket of local currencies from the core members: the Brazilian Real, Russian Ruble, Indian Rupee, Chinese Yuan, and South African Rand. This basket is adjusted periodically to reflect bilateral trade volumes and economic shifts within the bloc.

Unlike a traditional fiat currency, The Unit is not intended for everyday retail use. Instead, it is a settlement instrument—a unit of account specifically designed for wholesale, cross-border trade. It allows member nations to settle large-scale commodity transactions (such as oil, gas, and rare earths) without needing to route payments through the SWIFT messaging system or convert local currencies into U.S. dollars.

A Quick History Lesson: From BRICS Dreams to Dollar Dodging

BRICS wasn’t always about upending the dollar. Coined in 2001 by a Goldman Sachs economist, the group started as a bet on emerging markets’ growth. Fast-forward to 2009’s formal alliance, and by 2014, they’d launched the New Development Bank (NDB) as a rival to the IMF and World Bank.

The real spark? Russia’s 2022 Ukraine invasion and the West’s response: freezing $300 billion in Russian assets. That lit a fire under de-dollarization efforts. Today, Russia-China trade is almost entirely in yuan and rubles, and India-Russia oil deals have flipped to local currencies despite early snags. The July 2025 BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro didn’t greenlight a full currency but pushed for tools like BRICS Pay and expanded local settlements.

The Unit fits right in, testing atomic swaps that settle trades in seconds—not days like the old SWIFT system. It’s defensive, sure, but it’s gaining traction amid BRICS’s collective 45% of the world’s population and 36% of global GDP (in PPP terms).

How It Works: The Nuts and Bolts

The Unit is straightforward tech solving a thorny problem. Built for speed and privacy, it uses AI governance (yes, an “AI CEO” for fair play) and integrates with systems like China’s CIPS for cross-border payments. Early pilots issued just 100 units, but scalability could handle trillions if tied to NDB loans.

Here’s a snapshot of its valuation basket for clarity:

Component	Weight	Key Role	Volatility Buffer
Physical Gold	40%	Pricing anchor using spot markets (e.g., LBMA fix)	Shields against fiat crashes
Currency Basket	60%	Equal 12% slices: BRL, CNY, INR, RUB, ZAR	Ties value to intra-trade flows

Adapted from IRIAS pilot specs via CCN and IntelliNews analyses.

To visualize the dollar’s current stronghold versus BRICS alternatives, consider this chart showing global FX transaction shares (BIS 2025 data). It’s a stark reminder of why change won’t happen overnight.

The dollar towers over the rest, but notice the yuan’s quiet climb? That’s where tools like The Unit could nudge things along.

Geopolitical Catalysts and the “Defensive” Shift

The timing of the launch in late 2025 is no coincidence. Several factors have accelerated the transition from theory to pilot:

• Sanctions Insulation: Following the 2022 freeze of Russian central bank reserves, many Global South nations viewed the dollar-based system as a potential geopolitical liability. The Unit offers a “defensive” alternative, allowing countries to maintain trade continuity even under Western financial pressure.
• Expansion to BRICS+: The inclusion of major oil producers like Iran and the UAE, alongside emerging powers like Indonesia and Egypt, has fundamentally altered the bloc’s economic weight. As of late 2025, BRICS+ accounts for approximately 39% of global GDP (PPP), giving the group the “critical mass” necessary to support an independent settlement system.
• Technological Maturity: The Unit is delivered via a decentralized digital platform using blockchain technology. This allows for near-instant settlement and bypasses the traditional correspondent banking networks that often add cost and time to international transfers.

The Big Question: Can This Topple the Dollar?

Short answer: Not anytime soon, but it could accelerate a slow thaw. Proponents like economist Nathan Lewis call it “a smart incremental move,” letting BRICS reroute some of their $6 trillion annual trade away from dollars. Gold’s role here is key—BRICS nations scooped up over 800 tons in 2025 alone, signaling serious intent.

Yet skeptics aren’t buying the hype. Fisher Investments labels it a “settlement gimmick, not a game-changer,” pointing to BRICS’s messy internals: no free trade pact, plus rivalries like India-China border spats. Oil still prices in dollars 95% of the time, and the greenback’s in 59% of central bank reserves.

For a balanced pulse, experts are split:

Viewpoint	Key Argument	Source Example
Optimistic	Counters sanctions; boosts gold to $3,000+/oz	Jim Rickards (Forbes contributor)
Cautious	Fragmented bloc; USD network effects too strong	Hudson Institute analysis
Pragmatic	Defensive tool for 50% local trade by 2030	HSE University roundtable

Data from IMF and BIS underscores the gap: BRICS intra-trade is only 20% in local currencies now, versus the dollar’s 88% slice in their deals.

And here’s a table on BRICS gold stockpiles—fuel for The Unit’s backing:

Country	2025 Holdings (Tons)	% of Reserves	YoY Growth
Russia	2,333	26%	+5%
China	2,250	5%	+10%
India	803	10%	+3%
Brazil	130	2%	+2%
South Africa	125	12%	+1%
New Members (e.g., Iran)	~500 combined	Varies	+8%

World Gold Council data, BRICS+ adjusted.

If The Unit scales, it might juice gold prices to $4,300/oz by shifting $1-2 trillion in flows, per CCN estimates. But U.S. debt at $35 trillion and 3-4% inflation keep the dollar sticky for now.

Challenges on the Horizon

Unity’s the Achilles’ heel. India’s $60 billion deficit with Russia? That screams dollar dependency. Geopolitics add friction—China’s capital controls clash with India’s open markets. Plus, Western pushback, like tariffs, could slow the roll.

On X (formerly Twitter), the chatter’s electric: Posts from @RadarHits racked up 460K views hyping “de-dollar FOMO,” while @Humble_invader dismissed it as “prototype theater.” It’s a microcosm of the debate—excitement meets eye-rolls.

For Global South nations, though, it’s empowering. Sanctioned economies like Iran’s see it as a lifeline, echoing calls for equity in a post-colonial financial world.

Economic and Geopolitical Implications

The Unit is more than just a technical experiment. If adopted broadly, it could reduce transaction costs, cut reliance on the dollar, and provide a model for other emerging markets. Even if the impact is modest, it sends a clear message: major developing economies want more control over how they settle trade.

That said, analysts caution against overstating the Unit’s immediate impact. The dollar still dominates global finance, and BRICS countries conduct much of their trade outside the bloc. A shared settlement unit is a helpful tool, but transforming the global financial order is a marathon, not a sprint.

Looking Ahead: A Multipolar Future?

By 2030, 73% of BRICS central bankers bet the dollar’s reserve share dips below 50%. Full dethroning? Decades away, akin to the euro’s plodding ascent. Success rides on bridges like mBridge (a CBDC platform) and buy-in from G77 allies.

As Lewis puts it, The Unit might “evolve naturally” toward gold primacy if fiat wobbles. For investors, it’s a watchlist item: More gold buys, local currency swaps, and maybe a side bet on Cardano.

In the end, this isn’t Armageddon for the dollar—it’s evolution. A parallel system for the East, letting the West catch its breath. Stay tuned; the real test is in adoption, not announcements.

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