BRICS Expansion: Can USDT Protect The US Dollar’s Dominance?

Tether (USDT) may be the biggest obstacle standing on the path of the BRICS Group in its effort to contest the hegemony of the United States Dollar.

BRICS Group Expanding De-dollarization Agenda

Paolo Ardoino, the CEO of the stablecoin issuer lauded USDT’s broad use cases. He described it as a currency that conveniently delivers the USD to a large number of people around the world today. He noted that it is particularly useful in developing countries where they need an alternative currency to their local fiat currencies which are usually prone to devaluation.

Noteworthy, Ardoino’s statement about Tether was a reaction to an earlier post from Howard Lutnick, Cantor Fitzgerald’s CEO.

Lutnick claimed that the BRICS Group, which comprises of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and some other countries, has invited Iran to join the bloc. BRICS has been growing rapidly for the last few months and the primary goal of member countries of the BRICS is to contest the dominance of the USD.

Tether $USDt is bringing the U.S dollar to hundreds of millions of people around the world that live in developing countries and are in need of an alternative to their local national currencies that are quickly losing any sort of value.

Through this activity, Tether, has been… https://t.co/XByn2cfWuU

— Paolo Ardoino 🤖🍐 (@paoloardoino) June 20, 2024

For the longest time, the intergovernmental organization  has been contemplating on the alternative currency to adopt for cross-border settlements to facilitate de-dollarization.

At a time, BRICS announced the creation of an independent payment system based on digital currencies and blockchain. More precisely, the BRICS consortium considered implementing a stablecoin. Even Russian President Vladimir Putin hinted that the bloc might explore the use of Ripple-associated XRP for cross-border settlements.

Cantor Fitzgerald’s CEO Support Tether 

Cantor Fitzgerald’s CEO recognizes this joint effort from the member countries of BRICS against Dollars’ hegemony. Consequently, he highlighted that the United States needs a responsible dollar-backed stablecoin to equally contest the effort of these nations.

“The digital dollar matters more now than ever,” Lutnick said.

He concluded his post by stating clearly that the dollar hegemony is important to America, as it matters to its economy.

While Lutnick was not specific about the USD-pegged stablecoin that the United States could explore, his thoughts may be with USDT. This likely prompted Ardoino’s reaction. The entrepreneur has voiced his support for Tether in the past. At the beginning of 2024, Tether Reserve gained legitimacy as Cantor Fitzgerald confirmed the firm has the reserve it claims it has.

This could be another strategy for him to tout the capacity of the digital currency.

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