What BRICS De-Dollarisation Actually Means for Gold

Key Takeaways

• De-dollarisation means less dollar dependence, not a dollar collapse.
• The payment alternatives matter more than any common BRICS currency.
• Central banks bought a net 289 tonnes of gold in the June 2026 quarter.
• Gold is nobody's liability, which is why reserve managers hold it.

For more than half a century, the international monetary system has been built around the US dollar. It remains the principal reserve currency, the dominant currency for international trade and the foundation upon which much of the world's financial infrastructure rests. This has given the United States considerable economic and geopolitical influence, while leaving much of the rest of the world dependent upon American monetary policy and the institutions through which dollar transactions are conducted.

There is little reason to believe that this arrangement is about to disappear. Predictions of an imminent collapse of the dollar, or of its sudden replacement by a BRICS currency, are therefore of limited value to the serious investor. The more important development is quieter: a growing number of countries are attempting to reduce their dependence upon a monetary system over which they have little control. This is the development that bullion investors should be watching.

Is the dollar about to lose its reserve status?

The question is not whether the dollar will cease to be the world's dominant reserve currency in the near future. That is unlikely. The more consequential question is whether the international monetary system is gradually becoming less dependent upon a single currency, a single payments infrastructure and, ultimately, the policies of a single central bank.

There is increasing evidence that it is. The significance of BRICS lies not so much in the prospect of a new common currency as in the development of alternatives to the dollar-centred system. Countries can settle more of their bilateral trade in their own currencies, establish alternative payment and clearing arrangements, and reduce the occasions on which international commerce must pass through the dollar. That is the path the bloc took at its New Delhi summit. The New Delhi Declaration of 12 September 2026 acknowledged discussions on trade settlement in BRICS local currencies, and India's Secretary (Economic Relations) Sudhakar Dalela said the following day that "there is no proposal in the BRICS for a BRICS currency, as of now" (India Today, 13 September 2026).

Why de-dollarisation does not require a dollar collapse

None of these developments, considered individually, threatens the dollar's position. Collectively, however, they represent a gradual diversification of the international monetary system. De-dollarisation does not require a collapse in the dollar. A currency can remain dominant while its relative importance declines. Sterling provides the historical example. The pound did not suddenly cease to function as an international currency when the United States emerged as the world's leading economic power. Rather, its position diminished over a prolonged period as the relative economic and financial weight of the two countries changed.

If a similar process is now beginning, it is likely to unfold in much the same way: gradually, through countless individual decisions rather than through a single dramatic event.

What would countries hold instead of dollars?

The practical objective of BRICS therefore need not be the creation of a rival global currency. It may be sufficient to make the dollar progressively less indispensable. That raises a more interesting question for investors. If countries wish to reduce their dependence upon the dollar, what should they hold instead? They can diversify into other fiat currencies, but this merely changes the nature of the exposure. The euro, renminbi or yen remains the liability of a foreign government and is ultimately subject to the monetary, fiscal and political circumstances of its issuer.

Gold presents an entirely different proposition. Gold is not the liability of another sovereign state. It does not depend upon the solvency of a government, the stability of a banking system or the monetary policy of a foreign central bank. No country has the ability to create additional gold in response to a fiscal deficit or a financial crisis. That independence has always been the fundamental attraction of monetary gold. What may be changing is not the nature of gold, but the circumstances in which that independence becomes strategically valuable once again.

Why central-bank gold buying matters more than a BRICS currency

This helps explain the significance of central-bank gold accumulation. Central banks bought a net 289 tonnes in Q2 2026, 62% above Q2 2025, led by Poland and China (World Gold Council, Gold Demand Trends Q2 2026, 30 July 2026).

Central banks do not normally purchase bullion with the intention of selling it a few months later for a speculative profit. Gold forms part of their long-term reserve assets. When monetary authorities increase their bullion holdings, they are making a decision about the composition of national wealth and the risks they are willing to carry on their balance sheets.

If central banks increasingly regard gold as an appropriate complement to, or substitute for, foreign-currency reserves, the implications for the bullion market are considerably more important than the latest announcement concerning a proposed BRICS currency.

A digital dollar is still a dollar

The same principle applies to the digitalisation of money. A digital dollar is still a dollar. A digital renminbi is still a renminbi. Changing the form in which a currency is transferred does not change the monetary or political characteristics of the currency itself. Digital payment systems may make transactions faster and more efficient, but they do not eliminate the sovereign risk inherent in fiat money.

Physical gold belongs to a different category. It is an asset rather than a claim upon the monetary system, and it can be held directly without relying upon the continued operation of a particular financial intermediary. This distinction is especially relevant if the international monetary system becomes more fragmented. A world in which several currencies, payment systems and geopolitical blocs compete with one another has a greater need for an asset that belongs to none of them.

Where silver fits

Silver deserves a somewhat different treatment. Unlike gold, it has a substantial industrial market in addition to its monetary history, with demand coming from areas such as electronics and solar technology. Industrial fabrication took 657.4 million ounces in 2025, about 58% of silver demand, though that was a 3% fall on 2024 and the Silver Institute forecasts a further 3% decline in 2026 to 639.6 Moz as solar manufacturers cut silver loadings per cell (Silver Institute, World Silver Survey 2026, 15 April 2026; Mercom India, 21 July 2026). Consequently, silver is influenced by both monetary conditions and industrial activity and can be considerably more volatile than gold. For bullion investors, gold remains the purer expression of the monetary argument, while silver combines that exposure with a significant industrial component, one reason the Ainslie Bullion silver range suits a different holding period to gold.

The counter-case: the dollar is not fading yet

The dollar's share of allocated official reserves rose to 57.13% in Q1 2026 from 56.42% in Q4 2025, about half of that shift down to exchange-rate valuation effects (IMF COFER, 2026Q1). The much-discussed gold-backed BRICS settlement token, the Unit, also remains a research prototype rather than agreed policy, with no member central bank committed to holding it. Diversification and continued dollar dominance can both be true at once.

What it means for investors

The important point is that investors do not need to predict the arrival of a new BRICS currency, nor do they need to believe that the dollar is on the verge of collapse. The more useful question is whether governments and central banks are gradually moving towards a monetary system in which dependence upon any single currency and financial infrastructure is reduced. If they are, gold has a particularly compelling characteristic: it does not belong to any of the competing blocs.

It does not need to replace the dollar, or become the world's primary currency. It simply needs to retain the qualities that have made it a monetary asset for thousands of years. It cannot be created by a central bank, its supply cannot be expanded by political decree, and its ownership does not require confidence in the long-term promises of a foreign government.

The monetary system is therefore unlikely to be overturned overnight. A more plausible scenario is a gradual diversification, occurring transaction by transaction and reserve decision by reserve decision. That is the part of the BRICS story that matters.

The headlines are likely to keep focusing on whether a new currency is coming. Bullion investors should be looking at something less dramatic but potentially more significant: whether the world's central banks and governments are quietly building a monetary system in which they need the dollar a little less than they did before. And if that process continues, the strategic case for owning an asset that belongs to no government becomes increasingly difficult to ignore. For Ainslie Bullion clients, that is an argument for patient accumulation rather than trading headlines.

This article is general information only and does not constitute financial advice. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Always conduct your own research or consult a licensed financial adviser before making investment decisions.