During the 42nd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia from 10-11 May 2023, ASEAN leaders promoted the use of local currencies to deepen regional financial integration and strengthen financial stability in the region. committed to give.
According to the chairman’s statement, the 42nd ASEAN summit “declared to advance regional payments connectivity and promote local currency transactions” to promote bilateral and multilateral economic integration and enable more affordable cross-border payments across the region. adopted.
The promotion of local currencies for trade and payments and the demand for an alternative international reserve currency less dependent on the US dollar is increasing. The recent wave of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve (Fed) to fight inflation has prompted other central banks to raise interest rates in order to prevent capital outflows and the depreciation of their currencies.
The emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) are increasing the use of their currencies in trade. They are also looking for an international reserve currency less dependent on the US dollar. Similarly, other economies in the Middle East, North Africa and South America are considering their options.
Does the de-dollarization debate provide an opportunity for cryptocurrencies? Looking at economies exploring de-dollarization raises a number of questions and issues that must be assessed.
   
Do these economies abandon their national currencies for another currency, or do they adopt a new common currency? Could these economies consider adopting private money as a cryptocurrency or a stablecoin, or opting for a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)?
One thing is certain that some of the economies exploring de-dollarization belong to different regional blocs. Pursuing regional bloc economic objectives may conflict with the adoption of a different currency outside the bloc. Other challenges lie within the agreement, management and distribution of the adopted currency.
Another issue is crypto regulation. There are regional blocks at different levels of development of the crypto regulatory framework. Some economies only have country-specific positions regarding crypto legislation. The adoption of a cryptocurrency, stablecoin, or CBDC in the absence of separate or no crypto legislation will create challenges for these economies to adhere to the de-dollarization strategy.
It appears that there is no straight forward or easy solution to de-dollarization. The creation of a global cryptocurrency framework is one of the key issues that must be addressed if cryptocurrencies are to provide any alternative to de-dollarization.
source: zycrypto.com