The BRICS gold pact now spans 33 nations as Russia leads efforts to establish a precious metals exchange. This would enable member countries to trade gold, platinum, and rare earth minerals outside Western-controlled platforms. The system includes eleven full participants with twenty-two additional countries in application stages, building infrastructure that facilitates dollar-free commerce backed by physical gold rather than US dollars.

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BRICS Gold Countries And Russia Gold Boost Gold-Based Settlement System

Russia Gold Exchange Challenges Western Pricing Control

Russia gold leadership is advancing the BRICS gold pact through a proposed exchange that would establish independent pricing mechanisms. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov stated:

“The creation of a mechanism for trading metals within the BRICS countries will lead to the formation of fair and equitable competition based on exchange principles.”

The gold-based settlement system operates through China’s Shanghai Gold Exchange International, which has led the development of its architecture. In 2017, Russia piloted the system by accepting yuan from China for oil with blockchain-verified guarantees that allowed the yuan to be converted into gold.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov clarified:

“No one in the BRICS community is raising the issue of replacing the dollar. The alternative is to switch to settlements in national currencies.”

BRICS De-Dollarization Accelerates Through Physical Assets

The BRICS countries have motivated their de-dollarization strategy by leveraging their collective gold reserves, which total about 6,000 tonnes—roughly 20% of all central bank reserves worldwide. Russia holds the largest portion with 2,335.85 tonnes, followed closely by China with 2,298.53 tonnes. Russian Deputy Finance Minister Aleksey Moiseev clarified that foreign institutions such as SWIFT and the London Metal Exchange have served the interests of the G7 and EU.

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The infrastructure includes vaults in Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Malaysia that enable regional partners to store and pledge gold for credit lines. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov affirmed that the system will be aimed at achieving operative status by 2030. The structure of the BRICS gold pact focuses on voluntary involvement. It seems that physical gold forms the basis of trust between trading partners.