English
The US dollar's share of global foreign exchange reserves has fallen below 57% for the first time in three decades, marking a historic inflection point in the de-dollarization trend driven by BRICS+ nations. As of Q4 2025, the dollar's reserve share stood at 56.77%, according to the latest IMF COFER data, continuing eight consecutive quarters of structural decline. This shift is not an overnight collapse but the emergence of a parallel multipolar financial architecture—one built on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), gold-backed settlement tokens, and local-currency trade networks that reduce Washington's financial leverage.
Context: The Measurable Decline of Dollar Dominance
The dollar's share of global reserves has fallen from 71% in 1999 to below 57% today—a decline of 9.5 percentage points since 2015 alone. Meanwhile, the share held in 'other' currencies has grown from 1.7% to approximately 10%, reflecting active diversification by central banks. The euro has held steady around 20%, while the Chinese yuan has stalled near 2% after peaking at 2.8%. The BRICS de-dollarization strategy has moved from theoretical debate to measurable structural change, accelerated by the 2022 freeze of $300 billion in Russian reserves and growing US fiscal concerns.
mBridge: The CBDC Settlement Rail Bypassing SWIFT
Project mBridge, the cross-border CBDC platform spearheaded by China, has processed over $55.5 billion in transactions by early 2026—a nearly 2,500-fold increase from its $22 million pilot phase in 2022. The platform, built on distributed ledger technology, enables real-time cross-border payments between central banks in China, Hong Kong, Thailand, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, bypassing the traditional correspondent banking system and SWIFT. China's digital yuan (e-CNY) accounts for roughly 95% of settlement volume on the platform. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) withdrew from mBridge in October 2024, citing geopolitical concerns, and has shifted focus to its competing Project Agorá with seven Western central banks.
China's CIPS Network Expands
Complementing mBridge, China's Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) now connects over 1,500 institutions across 117 countries, providing an alternative to SWIFT for yuan-denominated trade. The rise of China's payment infrastructurepetrodollar system's gradual unravelingimplications for US financial leverage