BRICS’ 2026 gold framework is rapidly reshaping the global bullion landscape — and with it, the balance of monetary power. What’s happening - The expanded BRICS bloc (now 11 members — including Brazil, China, Russia, India, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia) is coordinating central-bank gold purchases and building the infrastructure for gold-backed trade and a possible gold-backed currency unit. - The goal: increase BRICS’ control of global gold reserves from roughly 50% of current production to about 65–70% through collective buying and gold-settlement systems. The numbers - Since 2020, BRICS countries have increased gold’s share of their total reserves by 102%, driven by aggressive central-bank buying and rising bullion prices. - Between 2020 and 2024, central banks from BRICS members accounted for more than 50% of global gold purchases. - Production highlights for 2024: China ~380 tonnes, Russia ~340 tonnes. Including aligned producers such as Kazakhstan, Iran and Uzbekistan, BRICS and partners now account for about 50% of global output. - Total combined reserves in the bloc exceed 6,000 tonnes: Russia 2,336 tonnes, China 2,298 tonnes, India 880 tonnes (at time of reporting). - Brazil returned to the market with a 16-tonne purchase in September 2025, bringing its total reserves to 145.1 tonnes. Voices from the market - Anuj Gupta, director at Ya Wealth: “BRICS member countries are both producing more gold and selling less. At the same time, they are also purchasing gold from the international market. According to existing data, between 2020 and 2024, the Central Banks of the respective BRICS nations purchased more than 50% of the global gold.” - Frank Giustra, at the Precious Metals Summit: “We’re now, believe it or not, in the era of hard money. If you own paper gold, you do not own real gold. When the crunch comes, it will not be there.” Why it matters for markets and crypto - The bloc’s coordinated accumulation and the development of gold-backed settlement systems add momentum to broader de-dollarization efforts. For digital-asset markets, the emergence of gold-backed trade rails and a reserve-focused bloc could alter demand dynamics for tokenized gold, stablecoins and dollar-denominated assets. - As BRICS expands its economic footprint — representing about 46% of the world’s population and 37% of global GDP — its concentrated bullion holdings and potential to clear trade in gold could create tangible shifts in global reserve strategies and liquidity flows. Bottom line BRICS’ gold strategy is more than hoarding metal: it’s a coordinated push to reconfigure reserve management, trade settlement and monetary influence. With member states ramping up production, buying aggressively and building gold-settlement infrastructure, the bloc’s stated aim to control 65–70% of global output appears increasingly feasible — and it will be a key trend for investors and crypto-market participants to watch in 2026. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news