The Currency League Table: Where the Dollar, Euro, Yuan and Stablecoins Really Stand

The first half of 2025 has been rough for the dollar. The US dollar index has fallen by roughly a tenth since January, putting the currency on course for one of its weakest first halves in decades. Tariff shocks, questions about US fiscal policy and pressure on the Federal Reserve have fed a lively debate about de-dollarization. At the same time, dollar-pegged stablecoins have grown into a market worth roughly a quarter of a trillion dollars. Amid the noise, it is worth returning to the data. Where do the major currencies, and their new digital competitors, actually stand?

Reserves: the dollar still dominates

The most widely cited measure of a currency's international role is its share of global foreign exchange reserves held by central banks. According to the IMF's COFER data, the dollar accounts for a little under 60 percent of allocated reserves. That share has drifted down from around 70 percent at the start of the century, but the decline has been gradual and has mostly benefited smaller currencies such as the Canadian and Australian dollars, not the euro or the yuan.

The euro holds about a fifth of reserves, a share that has been broadly stable for years. The Japanese yen and British pound each account for around 5 percent. The Chinese renminbi, despite China's economic size, holds only around 2 percent, and its share has not grown in recent years.

These figures are approximate, and each measure has its own caveats. SWIFT data excludes transactions settled within China's domestic systems and through its Cross-Border Interbank Payment System. FX turnover figures count each trade twice, because every trade involves two currencies, which is why shares add up to 200 percent. But the overall picture is consistent: the dollar leads by a wide margin on every measure.

Payments and trade

In international payments, the dollar and euro together account for most of the value processed through SWIFT. The euro's share is inflated by payments within the euro area, which count as international because they cross national borders. The yuan's share has risen from very low levels but remains a small fraction of the total.

Behind the payment figures sits a less visible advantage: the dollar's role as the main vehicle currency in foreign exchange markets. A bank converting Korean won into Mexican pesos will often go through the dollar, because the won-dollar and dollar-peso markets are far deeper than any direct won-peso market. That network effect is self-reinforcing. The more trades that route through the dollar, the cheaper it becomes to use it, and the harder it is for any rival to break in.

Dollar funding markets add to this. Banks and companies outside the United States have borrowed trillions of dollars, according to BIS estimates, which means they need dollars to service their debts. During crises such as 2008 and March 2020, the Federal Reserve extended swap lines to other central banks to ease dollar shortages, reinforcing the currency's central role at exactly the moment when doubts might have grown.

Trade invoicing tells a similar story. A large share of global trade is invoiced in dollars, including trade that does not involve the United States at all. Commodities such as oil are still mostly priced in dollars, though China has expanded yuan-denominated trade with Russia and some other partners since 2022.

Stablecoins: a digital dollar by another name

The fastest-growing competitor in the currency landscape is not a national currency at all. Stablecoins, digital tokens pegged to a fiat currency, have grown rapidly, with total supply around $250 billion. Nearly all of that value is pegged to the dollar. Euro-denominated stablecoins, despite the EU's MiCA framework, account for a tiny share.

The most successful challenger to the dollar in the digital age is, so far, the dollar itself.

Stablecoin issuers hold much of their reserves in short-term US Treasury bills, which means their growth creates demand for US government debt. The US Senate passed the GENIUS Act to regulate stablecoins earlier this month, and supporters argue that the law will strengthen the dollar's global reach. Critics worry about financial stability and the risk to emerging market currencies.

Bitcoin and gold: reserves outside the system

Bitcoin is sometimes presented as a challenger to national currencies. Its market value is large, well above $2 trillion at current prices, and a US executive order in March established a strategic reserve from forfeited coins. But bitcoin plays almost no role in payments or official reserves outside a handful of cases.

Gold is a more meaningful alternative. Central banks have bought gold at historically high rates since 2022, and gold's price has reached record highs this year. By value, gold now accounts for a larger share of total reserves than it did a decade ago, a sign that some central banks are diversifying away from currencies they fear could be frozen or weakened.

What the data say about de-dollarization

The numbers suggest three conclusions. First, the dollar's dominance is eroding slowly, not collapsing. Second, the main beneficiaries so far have been gold and smaller currencies, not the euro or the yuan. Third, stablecoins are extending the dollar's reach in the digital economy rather than challenging it. A weak dollar this year reflects investor concern about US policy, but reserve currency status depends on deep markets, open capital flows and trusted institutions, and no rival yet offers all three at the dollar's scale. This analysis is not investment advice.