BRICS vs Dollar: Why a BRICS Currency Will Never Happen

In 2022, the West flipped a switch and seven Russian banks were locked out of the global financial system. Traders couldn't pay suppliers. Students couldn't pay tuition. Families couldn't send money home. Today more than 90 Russian banks sit under some form of sanction. Ever since, one question has driven global finance: can anyone build an alternative to the dollar? And can BRICS be the one to do it? This video separates a debate that usually gets muddled into one. BRICS is facing two completely different problems, not one. The first is the system — the pipe that moves money across borders. That pipe is SWIFT, founded in 1973, headquartered in Belgium, connecting over 11,000 banks in more than 200 countries. SWIFT is not a bank and holds nobody's money. Think of it as a group chat between banks. And because it sits in Europe, it must comply with Western sanctions. That is how the switch works. The second is the currency. The US dollar accounts for about 49% of payments on SWIFT, against 21.6% for the euro, 6.5% for the pound and 4.7% for the yuan. It holds 57% of global foreign exchange reserves, invoices 46% of world exports and features in 89% of all forex transactions. That dominance is what gives American sanctions worldwide reach. So why won't a shared BRICS currency work? A common currency means a common central bank setting interest rates for everyone. It means members surrendering the ability to cut rates or expand money supply in a recession. It means agreeing on shared rules when some members are direct economic rivals. Would India accept rules set in Beijing? Would China open its currency fully to the world? The idea was dead on arrival. The closest the world ever came was Putin holding a printed prop note at the 2024 summit. What is actually happening is smaller and far more realistic. Trade in national currencies. Rupee-ruble. Rupee-yuan. Russia claimed in 2024 that 90% of its BRICS trade was settled without the dollar, though that is Moscow's own unverified figure. And these arrangements have a real catch we explain in the video: local-currency balances pile up in a country that cannot spend them. We also cover what happened to Trump's threat of 100% tariffs on BRICS nations. On 20 February 2026 the US Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the president cannot impose tariffs under emergency economic powers, and those tariffs were terminated days later. The weapon was blunted, not removed. And finally, 2026, with India holding the BRICS chair and hosting the New Delhi summit. The RBI has proposed linking members' central bank digital currencies, including the e-rupee and digital yuan, alongside connecting fast-payment systems and a customs cooperation agreement. There is no common currency on the agenda. There never was. The goal is not to defeat the dollar. It is to make sure no single country holds the switch to another country's economy. Comment below: should India lead this shift, or keep a careful distance? #BRICS #Dollar #DeDollarisation #SWIFT #BRICS2026 #CBDC #Economy #UPSC #MPSC #CurrentAffairs