BRICS' "Digital Gold Standard" Plan Revealed | De-dollarization Enters a New Phase, Reshaping the Global Reserve Currency Landscape

1. Internal documents that shocked the world: BRICS central banks are discussing "digital gold currency"

On October 7, 2025, Russia's Kommersant newspaper was the first to report: A joint working group of central banks of the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) submitted a research report entitled "BRICS Reserve Digital Gold Proposal" to the finance ministries of each member country, proposing the establishment of a digital currency backed by physical gold reserves as the basis for cross-border settlement and reserve assets.

If implemented, this plan would represent the most significant change to the global reserve currency system since the dollar's decoupling from gold in 1971. Many international media outlets have dubbed it "Bretton Woods III" because it redirects the foundation of the US dollar system— a credit-based reserve currency — to one backed by physical assets .

The core objectives of this document include:

• 🌍 Establish a digital reserve currency jointly issued by the BRICS central banks (tentatively named "BRICS Gold Token")

• 🪙 Each unit of digital currency is fully backed by 1 gram of physical gold

• 💱 Used for energy, raw materials and commodity settlements between member countries

• 🏦 Compatible with central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and cross-border payment systems

Alexey Zhuravlev, deputy governor of the Russian Central Bank, said in a public speech: "What we want to build is a verifiable, settleable, and reserve-capable digital currency, not another legal currency."

2. Mechanism Analysis: How does the Digital Gold Standard work?

This "digital gold standard" is not a replica of the traditional gold standard, but a completely new mechanism based on modern technology and the cooperation of multiple central banks. It integrates three elements : physical gold reserves, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and blockchain payment infrastructure .

1. Reserve support structure: gold as an anchor

• Each unit of "BRICS Gold Token" (BGT) is 100% backed by physical gold

• Gold is held in custody by central banks of various countries and is subject to international third-party audits.

• The initial total reserve target is approximately 20,000 tons of gold (worth approximately US$1.5 trillion)

At present, the official gold reserves of the BRICS countries have exceeded 8,600 tons. If the implicit holdings of sovereign wealth funds and central banks are included, the total amount can reach 14,000 tons, providing a realistic basis for the system.

2. Digital issuance mechanism: Joint issuance by central banks

• BGT is not issued by a single country's central bank, but is issued uniformly by the BRICS Reserve Currency Council (BRMC).

• Each member country receives an issuance quota based on its gold reserve ratio

• All issuance and destruction operations are publicly recorded on the blockchain network

3. Use Case: Trade Settlement and Reserve Assets

• Trade settlement : used for settlement of strategic commodities such as oil, natural gas, grain, and metals

• Central Bank Reserves : Central banks can include BGT in their foreign exchange reserve structure

• Financial markets : can be used for sovereign bonds, futures contracts and stablecoins

This mechanism will form a digital currency ecosystem anchored by physical assets , combining the security of traditional gold with the liquidity of digital currency.

3. Impact on the US Dollar System: Decentralization of the Reserve Structure

The launch of BGT is not only a new monetary tool, but more importantly a structural shock to the global reserve system.

1. Reshaping the competitive landscape of reserve currencies

Since the establishment of the Bretton Woods system, the US dollar has dominated the global reserve system with its "non-gold-backed" credit standard. Currently, the US dollar still accounts for 58% of global foreign exchange reserves, but this has dropped significantly from 72% in the 1990s. If the Bretton Woods system is implemented, the IMF predicts:

• 📉 The share of US dollar reserves may fall below 45% by 2030

• 📈 The proportion of gold-backed assets may increase from the current 17% to 30%

• 🌐 Multi-currency reserve structure will become the norm, and the era of US dollar monopoly will end

2. The “goldification” of the oil settlement system

The core pillar of the US dollar's hegemony lies in the "petrodollar system," whereby global energy trade is denominated and settled in US dollars. However, as the BRICS countries' share of global energy exports and imports increases (over 43% of global energy exports), the use of BGT for oil and gas settlement will systematically weaken demand for the US dollar.

Energy exports from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Russia may become the first applications of the "digital gold standard." At that time, the oil-gold peg will become a reality, and the "old order" of the dollar-oil bond will be shaken.

3. The effectiveness of financial sanctions has weakened

US financial sanctions are effective because of the global monopoly of the US dollar settlement system. Once international trade and reserve assets are diversified, the effectiveness of sanctions as a "monetary weapon" will be significantly reduced.
Zilkovic, former chief strategist at Credit Suisse, pointed out: "The emergence of BGT means that the embryonic form of a 'non-dollar settlement zone' is taking shape."

4. Geopolitical Impact: The Global South of the Financial Order

The BRICS "Digital Gold Standard" plan is not only a monetary innovation, but also an extension of geopolitical strategy.

1. Institutionalization of the “De-Dollarization Alliance”

Previously, de-dollarization was more of a loose policy coordination, such as local currency settlements between China and Russia and rupee trade between China and India. However, the launch of BGT will, for the first time, transform de-dollarization into an institutionalized, regularized, and operational system.

2. BRICS expansion and consensus in the Global South

With the addition of countries like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and Argentina to the BRICS, the system's reach is rapidly expanding. In the future, over 60% of the world's population and 45% of global GDP could be included in this new monetary system.

This means that the "dollar system" will face an institutional competitor of comparable size for the first time .

3. Western response strategies

The U.S. Treasury Department has warned in an internal report: "If the BRICS countries launch gold-backed digital currencies, it may accelerate the erosion of the U.S. dollar's reserve status." The European Union recommends hedging potential shocks through the digital euro and strengthening the dollar-euro union.

5. Investment Implications: Triple Opportunities in Gold, Sovereign Debt, and Digital Assets

This historic process is not only a restructuring of geopolitics, but also brings unprecedented structural opportunities to investors.

1. Gold Market: From Safe-Haven Asset to Core Reserve

Gold will once again become the "anchor" of the global reserve system. In the coming years, global central banks' demand for gold will surge, and gold prices may reach record highs.

• 📈 The World Gold Council expects central bank annual purchases to increase from 1,100 tons in 2024 to more than 1,800 tons in 2027

• 📊 "Linked trading" products between gold and reserve digital currencies will become a new type of derivatives market

2. Sovereign debt market: Diversification is accelerating

As the attractiveness of US dollar assets declines, investors will increase their allocation to non-US sovereign bonds, including emerging market bonds such as RMB bonds, ruble bonds, and rupee bonds.

3. Digital Asset Market: The New Ecosystem of Stablecoins and Central Bank Digital Currencies

The emergence of BGT will also give rise to a series of gold-anchored stablecoins and digital financial products, providing new underlying assets for DeFi and cross-border payments.

VI. Expert Interpretation: The Third Act of the Bretton Woods System

• 🧠JPMorgan Chase : "The significance of the BRICS digital gold standard is no less than the decoupling of the US dollar from gold in 1971. It will usher in an 'era of multiple anchor currencies'."

• 📉 Bank for International Settlements (BIS) : "The competition for reserve currencies is no longer between the US dollar and the RMB, but a systemic battle between the 'credit standard' and the 'physical standard'."

• 🧭Institute of Finance, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences : "In the next 10 years, the global reserve system will shift to a dual-pillar structure of 'digital + gold'."

VII. Future Outlook: Re-anchoring the Monetary Order

The BRICS "Digital Gold Standard" plan is not just a tool for de-dollarization, it may become the starting point for re-anchoring the global monetary order .

• 🌏Short term (2025-2027) : BGT will gradually be implemented as a regional settlement currency, with application scenarios mainly concentrated in energy and bulk trade.

• 📊Medium term (2027-2030) : More countries will include BGT in their foreign exchange reserves, and the global reserve structure will undergo significant changes.

• 🪙Long term (2030+) : The global monetary system may evolve into a "three-tier structure": US dollar-euro (credit standard), RMB-digital euro (sovereign digital currency), and BGT (physical standard).

📊 Conclusion: From the “dollar era” to the “golden digital era”

The BRICS Digital Gold Standard initiative is not a whim experiment, but a profound restructuring of the global monetary order . It not only diversifies reserve currencies but also shifts monetary philosophy : from credit-backed to physical anchoring, and from a single hegemony to a multipolar balance.

The era of the Bretton Woods system anchored by the US dollar may be coming to an end, and a new era centered on digitalization, materialization, and decentralization is quietly approaching.