Asia Morning Briefing | 22 September 2025

A BYD Dolphin Mini sold in Bolivia for payment in USDT captures 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 real-world trade.

Across La Paz, a bright green BYD Dolphin Mini is splashed across billboards, marketed as an affordable EV for the masses. But the fine print tells the bigger story: customers pay in USDT, a token pegged to U.S. Treasuries—the very assets China is reducing from its reserves.

For years, Beijing has framed de-dollarization in Latin America as part of a broader “South–South” economic order. Bolivia now conducts roughly 10% of its trade in yuan, Brazil maintains a RMB 190 billion ($26 billion) swap line, and Argentina relies on renminbi liquidity to skirt defaults.

Yet for consumers and merchants, the yuan is largely absent. China’s goods—from EVs to buses, soybeans to lithium—continue to flood regional markets, but the settlement currency of choice is USDT. For economies facing inflation, currency controls, or dollar shortages, Tether provides what the yuan cannot: stability, liquidity, and seamless offshore use.

The reality underscores a deeper contradiction. China’s export success strengthens demand not for its own currency, but for digital dollars. Stablecoins have quietly become the financial rails of emerging markets, delivering speed, convertibility, and trust where central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and swap lines fall short.

Beijing’s CBDC pilots remain confined at home, and talk of a BRICS reserve unit has yet to translate into practical usage. On the ground, it is USDT that acts as the everyday settlement layer. Far from accelerating de-dollarization, the rise of crypto-dollars entrenches the greenback’s dominance—only now in tokenized form.

Unless China finds a way to match its trade power with monetary influence, the gap between its export clout and financial reach will continue to widen. Latin America’s de-dollarization is happening—but on U.S. terms, through stablecoins rather than renminbi.

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Market Movements

• Bitcoin (BTC): Holding above $114.5K, slightly softer on the day. Resistance remains near $115K–$117K as institutions return to the market, supported by U.S. rate cut expectations and risk-on sentiment.
• Ethereum (ETH): Trading at $4,400 with mild intraday weakness. Momentum is sluggish as ETH struggles to reclaim prior highs. ETF inflows totaled $556M last week.
• Gold: Near record levels on Fed rate cut bets, persistent central bank buying, dollar softness, and inflation fears.
• Nikkei 225: Gained 1.28% after China held loan prime rates steady, with broader Asia-Pacific markets tracking Wall Street strength.