11 Countries and No Common Currency: A Tale of BRICS

The BRICS alliance grew from its original founding members of five to an 11-member bloc in 2025. In the last three years, chatter about the group preparing to launch a currency backed by gold was doing the rounds. However, the reality is starkly different, as under the 18th summit in India’s New Delhi, the alliance has no common central bank, no unified monetary policy, and no single banknote in development.

BRICS is not in a position of strength during the upcoming 2026 summit. The stories of de-dollarization are mostly limited to a few trades over the years. The settlements in local currencies are mostly forced due to the US sanctions on Russia and Iran. It is only China taking advantage of the situation and pushing the Chinese yuan for trade. Russia is also benefiting from the ordeal, as the Russian ruble is being used for cross-border transactions.

If you remove these, the rest of the cross-border transactions are going through with the US dollar. While India is managing to score a few settlements in the rupee, the majority of its deals are also paid in the US dollar. The Modi administration has repeatedly renounced the idea of a BRICS currency for a year. Higher officials have also been distancing themselves from the idea of de-dollarization. While analysts say this is due to Trump’s tariff threats, the notion goes much deeper.

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