Signal BRICS payment initiatives, the mBridge CBDC project and the US GENIUS Act reshape cross-border money

Summary

The monetary-system overview reports that BRICS members are expanding the use of their own currencies in trade in response to dollar dominance. They are also pursuing a common payment platform and discussing a cross-border settlement system called BRICS Bridge. The China-led mBridge project is pursuing cross-border payments that use central bank digital currencies among several countries. The United States, while cautious about issuing a federal central bank digital currency, is institutionalising privately issued stablecoins through the GENIUS Act. The survey reads these moves as signs of a contest over the future architecture of international payments amid geoeconomic fragmentation.