BRICS Countries Explore Joint Digital Currency to Reduce Dollar Dependence

Source: УНІАН | Original Published At: 2026-01-26 12:56:00 UTC

Key Points

• India proposes linking central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) of BRICS members to create cross-border payment system for trade and tourism
• Initiative to be discussed at 2026 BRICS summit in India, potentially establishing formal framework for digital currency cooperation
• Brics Pay platform aims to enable transactions in national currencies without relying on dollar-based systems like SWIFT
• Technical challenges include system interoperability and regulatory alignment across BRICS members' varying CBDC development stages
• Strategic goal is to reduce vulnerability to Western sanctions while maintaining dollar as parallel option in short term