The US dollar (USD) has been the go to for global commerce for the past decades, and it accounts for 60% of all global currency reserves. But the dominance of the Dollar might just crash following the rise of the Chinese Yuan, officially known as the renmingbi (人民币). Despite being the second largest economy in the world and the central hub of manufacturing, its currency has failed to keep up with the country's economic dominance. Not only did the Chinese Yuan fail to rival the USD, it even fell behind other global currencies like the Euros, Sterling Pound, and the Japanese Yen.
But current political events might be changing the currency landscape. With China partnering with other major economies through the BRICS bloc, whose members include Brazil, India, the UAE, Egypt, and South Africa. These nations are working together to topple the dominance of the USD's dominance. BRICS is also working collecting on a blockchain-based alternative, which we might just see in the near future. In the meantime, the Chinese Yuan remains the de facto currency of choice of international trade.
Just last year, the Yuan shook the global economy by overtaking the USD in cross-border commerce for the first time ever in China, accounting for 48%, while the dollar hit 46.7%. This was seen as a significant event that ushered in a new era of de-dollarisation for Asia's largest economy.
The Yuan's emergence had already rear its head back in 2023, when it emerged as the most traded currency on the Moscow Exchange. It accounted for 42% of the trades, edging the dollar's 39.5%, as reported by Reuters and other Russian outlets. Yuan volume tripled to 34.15 trillion Rubles, while that of the USD dipped.
Experts are saying that this trend is going to continue for various reasons. For starters, with US slapping sanctions on many of the BRICS countries like Russia, China, Iran, it seems that these countries are turning away from the Dollar to other currencies like the Yuan.
But the USD isn't going to be overthrown just overnight, and the currency will still remain the strongest currency for the time being as it still has the strong support of many European countries and some of Asia's largest economies, like Japan and South Korea.
But there will come a day when the Chinese Yuan will overthrow the dollar, and once the dollar is out of the picture, the Yuan could become one of the key players. Overtime, we could also see the gradual rise of crypto and how it could play a significant role in the global economy, especially if China changes its stance on crypto.