Reserve currencies and the dollar system

The US dollar is the world's dominant reserve currency, holding roughly 58% of global reserves today — down from 72% at the turn of the century.

What makes a reserve currency

Deep capital markets, rule of law, convertibility, and network effects. The dollar has all four.

The slow rebalance

Reserve shares change slowly. But the direction is clear: central banks are diversifying, and the biggest beneficiary of that reallocation has been gold — not the euro or the yuan.