De-dollarization has always been referred to as a process where the global US dollar usage significantly declines over a period of time. However, this term carries a lot more than what it usually portrays. De-dollarization is also about ending one’s exposure towards the US dollar, or dollar-based assets, which the countries nowadays have been following up on aggressively. Apart from that, de-dollarization does not necessarily mean dumping US dollars and exploring other assets dynamically, but it means ending reliance on the US dollar exclusively, which continues to later chip the dollar’s dominion away. Here are three ways through which the world is silently embracing de-dollarization, badgering the dollar slowly yet steadily.
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De-Dollarization Narrative: 3 Silent Killers
1. Emergence of Alternate Local Payment Settlement Networks
De-dollarization is not always about downright ditching the US dollar in broad daylight. Sometimes it happens in the form of rising alternative local payment networks that deploy local currency usage, usually starting at a small scale. These networks generally start small but eventually play a big role in gnawing at the dollar’s legacy. One such example of this narrative can be China’s CIPS network that prioritizes Yuan payments over USD.
“In 2015, China introduced the cross-border international payment system (CIPS) to support the international use of the renminbi. CIPS offers clearing and settlement for cross-border renminbi transactions. It also has messaging capabilities, which allows it to compete with SWIFT. That said, 80 percent of payments on CIPS reportedly still use SWIFT (Yeung and Goh, 2022). Since its introduction, the use of CIPS has increased continuously, and adoption has sped up following war-related sanctions on Russia in 2022. That said, at a daily usage of about $60 billion, the volume of payments processed by CIPS is dwarfed by the $1,800 billion in payments processed each day by the Clearing House Interbank Payments System (CHIPS), which is the main method of settling large U.S. dollar transactions.”
2. Behind the Scenes Gold Accumulation
Countries nowadays are busy setting up a new gold accumulation race. Countries including China and India have ramped up their gold purchases, with such investments acting as shields to protect economies from the wobbly US dollar stance. This is yet another example of a silent de-dollarization process, where countries continue to bank on alternate assets to safeguard their interests.
“Gold is replacing fiat currencies as a reserve currency. Gold’s share of global international reserves rose 3 percentage points in Q1 2025, to 24%, the highest in 30 years. This marks the 3rd consecutive annual increase. Meanwhile, the US dollar’s share declined ~2 percentage points, to 42%, the lowest since the mid-1990s. The euro share remained roughly unchanged at ~15%. Gold is now the world’s second-largest reserve asset after surpassing the euro in 2024. Gold is seeing historic levels of demand.”
3. Non-USD Pricing
Another form of de-dollarization silently creeping up is the non-USD pricing taking over the world markets. Oil and petrol priced outside USD, coupled with LNG contracts in euros with metals priced outside USD as well, are also gnawing at the dollar’s prestige and longevity.
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