Escobar: The Coming of BRICS+ Decentralized Monetary Ecosystem
A Revolutionary Geoeconomic Concept
Prepare yourself for a potential geoeconomic bombshell in 2024: the arrival of a decentralized monetary ecosystem. This concept, known as The Unit, is being explored by the financial services and investments working group of the BRICS+ Business Council. There's a strong possibility it could become official BRICS+ policy by 2025.
The Unit: A Solution to a Global Crisis of Trust
The Unit was conceived by Alexey Subbotin, founder of Arkhangelsk Capital Management. Subbotin, a seasoned financial professional, describes The Unit as a new system designed to address a major geoeconomic issue of our time: a global crisis of trust. The project is being led under the auspices of IRIAS, an international intergovernmental organization established in 1976 in line with the UN statute.
Addressing the Flaws of Current Monetary Framework
The global majority is growing tired of the centrally controlled monetary framework established 80 years ago in Bretton Woods. This system has numerous flaws, including chronic deficits fueling irresponsible military spending, speculative bubbles, politically motivated sanctions, abuse of settlement and payment infrastructure, protectionism, and a lack of fair arbitration.
The Unit: A Game-Changer for Cross-Border Payments
In contrast to the current system, The Unit proposes a reliable, quick, and economically efficient solution for cross-border payments. The Unit is a new form of international currency that can be issued in a decentralized manner and then recognized and regulated at the national level. It is a game-changer that can help to solve bottlenecks in global financial infrastructure, making it suitable for traditional banking operations as well as the newest forms of digital banking.
Addressing Unfair Pricing in Commodity Trading
The Unit can also help to address unfair pricing in commodity trading by establishing a new, fair, and efficient Eurasian Mercantile Exchange. Here, trading and settlement can be done in this new currency, bridging trade flows and capital and paving the way for the development of new financial products for foreign direct investment (FDI).
A New Form of Apolitical Money
The strength of The Unit lies in its ability to remove direct dependency on the currency of other nations, offering a new form of apolitical money. This has enormous potential for anchoring fair trade and investments, especially for the global majority. The Unit is a new concept in terms of an international currency, anchored in gold (40%) and BRICS+ currencies (60%). It is neither a cryptocurrency nor a stablecoin.
The Unit: A Tool for Financial Sovereignty
The primary purpose of The Unit is to harmonize trade and financial flows by keeping them outside of political pressure or manipulable "rules". The inevitable result is financial sovereignty, with independent monetary policies focused on economic growth. This is a full ecosystem offering independent, complementary monetary infrastructure, which could potentially be extended to willing Unit partners in the collective West.
Scalability and Transparency of The Unit
On a practical level, The Unit ecosystem is easily scalable due to its fractal architecture supported by simple rules. New Unit nodes can be set up by either sovereign or private agents, following a detailed rule-book in custody of the UN-chartered IRIAS. The Unit organizers employ a distributed ledger, a technology that ensures transparency and prevents capital controls or any exchange rate manipulation.
The Unit's Potential for Global Adoption
The Unit has already received backing from the BRICS Business Council and is on the agenda for a crucial ministerial meeting in Russia next month. This meeting will outline the roadmap for the summit in October in Kazan. This suggests that The Unit has all it needs to be seriously discussed by BRICS+ and potentially adopted as early as 2025.
Engaging Key Actors
The priority for The Unit's conceptualizers is to inform the public about the new system. They are not interested in getting involved in political disputes or being cornered by ideologically-loaded arguments. The appeal of The Unit could extend to key actors such as Elon Musk and the BRICS's New Development Bank (NDB).
A Feasible Solution for Global Trade
The Unit should be seen as a feasible, technical solution for a theoretically unsolvable problem: a globally-recognized payment/trade system immune to political pressure. The conceptualizers of The Unit are open to constructive criticism and collaboration. However, they also recognize that the time will come when battle lines will be drawn, and the game will need to be seriously upped.
Unit: The Cure for Centralized Cancer
Vasily Zhabykin, co-author of The Unit white paper and founder of CFA.Center, emphasizes that The Unit represents apolitical money and can be the connector between the Global South and the West. He points out that unlike other concepts that feature 'dollar killers', The Unit aims to improve the efficiency of currently broken capital and money flows. It is the 'cure for centralized cancer'.
Unlocking the Potential of BRICS+
A clear example of The Unit's problem-solving potential concerns Russia-Iran trade relations. Russian trade with Iran is unprofitable due to sanctions, and both countries cannot make payments in US dollars or euros. The Unit could strengthen BRICS+ and the Global Majority by developing closer geoeconomic ties, freeing up local commodity trading, and enabling the pooling of investable capital for sustainable development.
Closing Thoughts
The Unit represents a revolutionary concept in the world of international finance. By offering a decentralized, apolitical form of currency, it has the potential to transform global trade and investment, fostering economic growth and financial sovereignty. What are your thoughts on this potential game-changer in the world of international finance? Share your views with your friends and sign up for the Daily Briefing, delivered every day at 6pm.
