In 1944, the Bretton Woods Agreement established the US dollar as the centrepiece of a new global financial order. Backed by gold, it became the bedrock of postwar stability. But 80 years later, we’re witnessing a monetary shift — not with declarations, but through quiet capital flows, central bank behaviour, and emerging technologies.

Bitcoin, a decentralized, fixed-supply digital asset, is increasingly framed not as a speculative novelty, but as a candidate for a new form of monetary anchor in a de-dollarizing world.

The De-Dollarization Trend: Signals from the Sovereigns

Over the past 5 years, data from the IMF, World Gold Council, and Bank for International Settlements (BIS) showed that a strategic rebalancing was occurring, rather than a sudden abandonment:

• The global dollar reserves are the lowest in modern history, falling from 71% in 2000 to approximately 58% in 2024 (IMF, 2025).
• China, Russia, India and Brazil are ramping up local-currency trade settlements (American International Journal of Business Management, 2025).
• BRICS nations are actively exploring alternatives to SWIFT and USD-based trade (Bastanifar, et al, 2024).
• Gold purchases by central banks hit a 50-year high in 2023 (World Gold Council, 2025)

Investors, too, are watching this unfold — seeking assets that sit outside traditional monetary systems, yet offer liquidity, credibility, and scarcity.

Bitcoin: A Neutral Asset in a Multipolar World

Interest in Bitcoin makes sense, as its attributes those of pre-1971 gold, with enhancements:

Feature                                                  Gold                                          Bitcoin

Supply                                   Limited, but not fixed                            Fixed (21M)

Portability                             Physical transport needed.                  Instant digital transfer

Verifiability                           Requires assay                                         Cryptographically verified

Neutrality                              High                                                           Absolute

As Fidelity, BlackRock, and ARK Invest highlight in recent research, Bitcoin is not a fiat replacement. It’s a base layer, a digital reserve asset — particularly valuable when trust in fiat stability erodes.

Institutions & Sovereigns Are Quietly Buying

In a move with echoes of gold accumulation in the 1960s, both governments and institutions are buying and holding more Bitcoin. Examples are:

• El Salvador doubled down on BTC reserves in 2024, using geothermal mining revenue.
• The Central African Republic and Argentina's Javier Milei floated pro-BTC policies.
• BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF ($IBTC) topped $25B AUM in under 18 months — a record pace for any ETF (BlackRock, 2025).
• Singapore, UAE, and Swiss family offices report increasing allocations to "non-sovereign monetary assets" — including Bitcoin.

Once again indicating that Bitcoin purchasing is not speculation, but strategic hedging. 

Infrastructure: The Rise of Bitcoin Rails

Parallel to asset accumulation, Bitcoin-native infrastructure is evolving to support global commerce:

• Lightning Network: Facilitates instant, nearly free BTC payments — ideal for remittances and cross-border commerce.
• Layer-2 developments (e.g., Fedimint, Ark) improve privacy and scalability.
• Decentralized custody solutions and multi-signature vaults enhance institutional confidence.

Bitcoin is becoming a global monetary rail — not just an asset, but an opt-in economic zone.

Portfolio Implications: Strategic, Not Speculative

Adding further to the strategic hedging that Bitcoin offers, VanEck’s 2024 allocation model indicates that a 2–3% BTC weighting in a traditional 60/40 portfolio improves both risk-adjusted returns and tail-risk resilience.

The dollar is not dying — but its unquestioned supremacy is fading. In that vacuum, capital will seek neutrality, scarcity, and decentralization. Gold has served this role before. Bitcoin might serve it next.

For professional investors, the case is no longer about if Bitcoin plays a role — but how large, and how soon. And this is a solution Galahad Research has developed. Our proprietary, self-optimising trading bot assists clients in navigating the Bitcoin’s volatility, providing a hedging tool and prioritising capital preservation. To understand how Galahad Research can help you achieve your investment goals, contact us at info@galahad.london or via our website www.galahadresearch.com.