BRICS Countries Launch Gold-Backed Digital Currency "Unit"

On December 8, Intellinews cited the Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IRIAS) reporting that the BRICS group has rolled out a working prototype of a gold-backed trade currency named "Unit." This digital trading instrument is backed by a reserve basket consisting of 40% physical gold and 60% BRICS national currencies—with the Brazilian Real, Chinese Yuan, Indian Rupee, Russian Ruble, and South African Rand each weighted equally. The pilot project was spearheaded by IRIAS, which issued 100 Units on October 31, with each initially pegged to 1 gram of gold. While the initiative has not yet become official policy, its existence marks a direct step toward de-dollarization. The "Unit’s" value is designed to fluctuate daily based on how its component currencies trend against gold. As of December 4, market swings have adjusted the reserve basket’s value to the equivalent of 98.23 grams of gold, effectively setting each Unit’s value at 0.9823 grams of gold.