BRICS Proposes Cryptocurrency "The Unit" as Alternative to the Dollar
Peter Reagan

A new major currency will be hitting the world stage soon as BRICS – being the economic block of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and a growing number of non-western nations – is coming closer to officially launching its collective tender. Details of the currency, which will be called The Unit, were announced during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in June.

The Unit will incorporate the economic value of the currencies of BRICS member states while also deriving 40% of its value from gold, according to Jim Rickards of Insider Intel. Rather than being pegged to a fixed value of gold, the Unit will be based on a weight of gold, meaning that as the price of gold increases or decreases, the Unit will be affected accordingly.

As Rickards said to attendees during the Rule Symposium last year, basing the currency on gold in any measure is a surefire way to gradually assert the dominance of the Unit. “(The BRICS) win by doing nothing. They just do nothing. They let the dollar destroy itself, (and) they let the dollar price of gold go up.”

Apart from being backed by gold, the Unit will purportedly be a blockchain-based currency, as noted by Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov in March 2024. "We believe that creating an independent BRICS payment system is an important goal for the future, which would be based on state-of-the-art tools such as digital technologies and blockchain. The main thing is to make sure it is convenient for governments, common people and businesses, as well as cost-effective and free of politics," Ushakov said.

The so-named BRICS Bridge multisided payment platform would connect the financial systems of member states and enable rapid transactions between central banks on a digital network. Importantly, once functional, it would serve as a means of sidestepping SWIFT and sanctions imposed by western governments.

The Unit has gained significant support within its membership – particularly from states seeking to self-determine their economic futures rather than basing them in the dollar – and financial experts see a great deal of potential in the currency. “A decentralized approach to emission of potential global trade currency, whose intrinsic value is anchored in physical gold and BRICS+ currencies, makes Unit the most promising of several approaches being considered,” writes leading Russian economist Sergey Glazyev. “It balances political priorities of all participants, while helping each sovereign economy develop along its optimal path.”

For any new currency to be successful, it needs a large body of adopters, and BRICS is accordingly adding more members. Iran, United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, and Egypt joined last year, and more members are anticipated to join in October when the annual BRICS meeting is held in Russia. Along with the new members, Unit will doubtlessly be a hot topic of conversation as the conference approaches.

 

 

Peter Reagan is a financial market strategist at Birch Gold Group. As the Precious Metal IRA Specialists, Birch Gold helps Americans protect their retirement savings with physical gold and silver.

 

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