Dedollarization suffers a blow as the greenback's share in global payments hits a record high

• The international drive to end the dollar's dominance has suffered a blow, with the greenback's role in global payments hitting a record high.
• SWIFT data showed as much as 46% of foreign-exchange payments in July via the messaging system involved the dollar.

An international movement against the dollar's global dominance, spearheaded by nations including China and Russia, has suffered a setback with the greenback's share of worldwide payments hitting a record high.

Data from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, also known as SWIFT, showed an unprecedented 46% of foreign-exchange payments via the communications system involved the US dollar in July, per Bloomberg.

SWIFT was launched in 1973 to serve as a neutral platform for banks to chat about financial transfers, transactions, and trades. The service links more than 11,000 financial institutions in more than 200 countries and territories.

Other popular currencies in July included the euro, pound, yen, and yuan. The Chinese currency broke records too, with more than 3% of messages using SWIFT relating to the yuan. About 13 years ago, it was only 0.03%, Bloomberg reported.

The jump in dollar-based SWIFT payments raises challenges to the movement to end the greenback's supermacy of global payments and fund transfers.

Countries including China, Russia, and India have been active in the anti-dollar drive following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine – especially after several Russian banks were kicked out of SWIFT as part of Western sanctions.

Chiefly, the three nations have conducted energy trades in the yuan, rupee, and ruble over the past year in a bid to reduce reliance on their reliance on the greenback. Meanwhile, BRICS nations are also exploring the option of creating a common currency to challenge the dollar.

Some market experts however have ridiculed the so-called dedollarization efforts, with one calling the proposed BRICS currency plan "embarrassing."