Operability of the Unit: New BRICS+ Currency

The BRICS+ bloc has formalized the operational deployment of the “Unit,” its digital unit of account designed for sovereign cross-border transactions.

October 13, 2026  |  3 min read

This financial tool utilizes an asset basket where 40% of the value is linked to physical gold and the remaining 60% to the national currencies of the member countries. The system operates on a decentralized blockchain architecture, allowing for instantaneous payment settlement without depending on the SWIFT system infrastructure or clearinghouses controlled by Western powers.

The final activation follows a period of technical testing initiated at the last Kazan summit. The central banks of Russia, China, India, and the United Arab Emirates have already integrated their digital payment gateways with the Unit’s central node. This ecosystem facilitates member country companies in settling commercial operations directly in their local currencies, using this new currency as a common denominator to mitigate exchange rate volatility against the US dollar or the euro.

Reconfiguration of Foreign Trade and Fragmentation Risks

The transition to the operational phase of the Unit marks the beginning of a parallel financial architecture that directly affects Spain’s external competitiveness. For large companies and exporters with exposure to emerging markets, especially in the energy, infrastructure, and raw materials sectors, the adoption of this digital currency introduces a complex operational duality. The pricing of basic products in Units, moving away from the traditional petrodollar system, forces financial directors to recalibrate their exchange risk hedging strategies and manage treasuries in monetary environments not integrated into Western circuits.

This monetary sovereignty of the BRICS+ reduces the effectiveness of international sanctions and alters the cost of financing in strategic markets. Spanish subsidiaries operating in Brazil, India, or the United Arab Emirates could face growing pressure to invoice or receive payments in this new digital unit, which requires an immediate update of compliance systems and relations with correspondent banking. The gold backing of the Unit seeks to offer stability that many emerging currencies lack, positioning itself as a safe-haven asset during periods of high global inflation.

Implications for the Global System

The fragmentation of the global payment system ceases to be a theoretical hypothesis and becomes a commercial reality. Spanish companies must evaluate the connectivity of their treasury management systems with these new digital protocols to avoid being excluded from public tenders or supply contracts in the BRICS+ bloc. This scenario favors actors who achieve multi-asset flexibility in their balance sheets, while penalizing organizations that maintain an exclusive dependence on dollar liquidity for their operations in Asia and Africa.