Dominance and Sanctions? Russia tests first gold-backed cryptocurrency

Western sanctions against Russia, China, and other states have led numerous governments to seek an alternative to the dollar-dominated Swift payment system. The dispute within the EU on how to handle the billions of frozen Russian central bank assets illustrates that the credibility of the Western-dominated financial system is at stake. Within the Brics group – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – intense discussions have been ongoing since the beginning of the Ukraine war on how to break the dollar dominance and introduce an effective protection against Western sanctions. ‘For various reasons, I do not believe that the dollar will remain as important,’ Brazilian economist Paulo Nogueira Batista said in an interview with Norwegian geopolitics analyst Glenn Diesen. ‘International money reflects, to a certain extent, geopolitical realities. As the USA and Europe lose importance, the relative significance of their currencies will also decline,’ the economist explained.