The world is rampant with the news of the US dollar losing its crown, struggling to gain pace in the longer term. While this is correct, the US dollar, however, is still a dominant currency competitor in the space, leading the majority of the transactions, all while crushing its competition in one go. The US dollar is exhausted with the macro developments, but its currency game is still strong, as reported by its latest trade stats.

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Forget De-Dollarization: The US Dollar Is Reigning Supreme; Here’s How

Despite the news of the US dollar bottoming with its competitors taking the lead, King Dollar continues to surprise us all. Per the latest report by the Kobeissi Letter, the US dollar is still a dominating currency to trade, leading 50% of international transactions via the SWIFT network.

While the world is rife with the news of de-dollarization, followed by the dollar losing its ground, these new stats prove how it’s difficult to push the dollar down a notch in its own game.

The KL statistics further indicate that this percentage has increased by 11.6% over the last four years. Moreover, the euro is the second currency in this list, followed by the British pound, the Canadian dollar, and the Japanese yen. In addition to this, the Chinese Yuan, touted as a heavy competitor to the USD, is dominating 2.7% of SWIFT transactions as compared to USD, signifying a strong gap, which may take years to fill.

“The US dollar continues to lead all global transactions. The US dollar’s portion of international transactions via SWIFT is up to 50.5%, the highest since 2023. This percentage is up 11.6 points over the last 4 years. The euro remains in 2nd place at 21.9%. Followed by the British pound at 6.7%, the Canadian dollar at 3.4%, and the Japanese yen at 3.4%. By comparison, the Chinese Yuan is just 2.7%, roughly unchanged over the last 3 years. Meanwhile, SWIFT processed 13.4 billion trade instructions in 2024, up from 11.9 billion in 2023. The US dollar’s position in international finance remains strong.”

Is De-Dollarization Truly Happening?

There was a time when the USD dominated the world at its own pace. However, as the world adapts to a multipolar pace, USD alternatives are growing rapidly. The signs of de-dollarization, or the world selecting its currency alternatives, or ditching it holistically, are very much real, but so is the fact that the US dollar cannot be replaced on a whim.

“US dollar-denominated tools, such as SWIFT or the Clearing House Interbank Payments System (CHIPS), dwarf alternatives. CIPS’ latest daily transaction processed value is 678.2bn yuan (US$97.4bn). A fraction of the US$1.9trn settled each business day on CHIPS. However, as alternative options and parallel systems develop amid the increasing undermining of the pillars of USD dominance. Notably the independence of the Fed. The underlying shifts towards a fragmented, multipolar monetary landscape will only become progressively more evident.” As shared by IISS.

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