ASEAN Nations Ditch the Dollar—Malaysia’s PM Reveals Bold De-Dollarization Move

Greenback's grip slips as Southeast Asia pivots.

The US dollar's monopoly faces its fiercest challenge yet—ASEAN economies are quietly building an exit ramp. Malaysia's Prime Minister confirms the bloc's accelerating shift toward local currency settlements, cutting reliance on the petrodollar system that's dominated global trade since WWII.

Dollar dominance on life support?

No surprise here—emerging markets learned the hard way during Fed rate hikes that playing by Washington's rules means bleeding reserves. Now they're rewriting the playbook with bilateral swaps and digital currency bridges. Watch for more central bank gold buys and CBDC experiments as the region hedges against weaponized finance.

Wall Street won't like this one bit—those fat FX spreads don't earn themselves.

ASEAN Nations Take Steps To Move Away From the US Dollar

The Malaysian PM said that ASEAN plans to execute its ideas to step away from the US dollar. During the 2025 summit in May, ASEAN members agreed to settle many cross-border transactions in local currencies. The MOVE was set up to strengthen their native economies and push their GDP numbers higher.

He mentioned that the collective strength of ASEAN can counter the supremacy of the US dollar in global trade.

The ASEAN alliance is an association of 10 member countries emerging from the Southeast region of Asia. The 10 member countries of the bloc include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.