Asia Morning Briefing | 22 September 2025
A BYD Dolphin Mini sold in Bolivia for USDT underscores the paradox of China’s de-dollarization push. While Beijing promotes the yuan as an alternative to the U.S. dollar, in practice it is crypto-dollars—stablecoins like Tether—that dominate everyday trade in emerging markets.
In La Paz, a bright green Dolphin Mini is advertised on billboards, symbolizing China’s export influence. Yet the EV is being purchased in USDT, a stablecoin pegged to U.S. Treasuries—the very assets China has been offloading from its reserves.
China has long encouraged Latin American nations to adopt the yuan. Bolivia now clears around 10% of trade in RMB, Brazil maintains a 190 billion yuan ($26 billion) swap line, and Argentina relies on renminbi liquidity to avert default.
For merchants and consumers, however, the yuan is not practical. USDT offers liquidity, speed, and offshore usability that the tightly controlled yuan cannot. China’s currency is designed primarily for domestic monetary policy, not global trade.
The result is a contradiction: Chinese exports—from EVs and buses to soy and lithium—boost demand for USDT rather than RMB. Across emerging markets, stablecoins have quietly become the preferred medium of exchange, offering speed, trust, and global reach—advantages China’s CBDC pilots and currency swap lines cannot match.
Despite years of discussion about a BRICS reserve currency or a digital yuan, actual trade still runs on crypto-dollars. USDT is effectively cementing the dollar’s dominance in tokenized form, highlighting the challenge China faces in converting trade power into monetary influence.
In Latin America, de-dollarization may be happening—but it is happening on digital-dollar rails, not through the renminbi.
Market Update
- Bitcoin (BTC): Trading above $114.5K, with minor intraday weakness. Resistance remains near $115K–$117K amid institutional flows and U.S. rate cut expectations.
- Ethereum (ETH): At $4,400, slightly soft. ETF inflows last week totaled $556M.
- Gold: Near record highs, supported by central bank demand, dollar softness, inflation concerns, and anticipated Fed rate cuts.
- Nikkei 225: Up 1.28% Monday after China held loan prime rates steady, tracking gains on Wall Street.
