BRICS Pay, a proposed decentralized payment system by BRICS nations—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—now including Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the UAE, has the potential to reshape global finance. This system aims to facilitate cross-border transactions using local currencies, reducing dependence on the U.S. dollar and bypassing traditional Western payment networks like SWIFT.
Rising geopolitical tensions, especially Western sanctions on countries like Russia, have accelerated interest in alternatives to the current global financial system. Following the 2022 Ukraine invasion, Russia faced financial isolation, with its dollar and euro reserves frozen. This prompted Russia and its BRICS allies to advocate for a payment system that is more resilient to external control and potentially less favorable to Western interests.
BRICS Pay will leverage existing payment infrastructures in member countries, such as Russia’s MIR network and India’s UPI, alongside blockchain technology for secure and transparent transactions. This system is expected to be faster, cheaper, and more resilient, enabling transactions in local currencies—like the Russian ruble and Indian rupee—without converting to U.S. dollars. This can reduce credit risk and delays commonly associated with traditional banking and SWIFT.
Representing 45% of the global population and 37% of the world economy, BRICS aims to create a more equitable financial system by fostering financial cooperation, reducing dependence on the U.S. dollar, and challenging the dominance of Western institutions like the IMF and World Bank. As global digitization advances, BRICS Pay could play a key role in reshaping the future of international payments and supporting a more multipolar world economy.
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