Central banks plan to reduce dollar holdings for first time ever, major survey shows

For the first time in the history of modern reserve management, more central banks plan to shrink their US dollar holdings than expand them. That’s the headline finding from a survey of 90 central banks and sovereign wealth funds collectively managing roughly $10 trillion in assets.

The survey, published by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF), marks a genuine inflection point. Central banks have been quietly diversifying away from the dollar for years, but this is the first time the balance of intentions has actually tipped negative over a forward-looking decade.

The numbers behind the shift

The dollar still accounts for an estimated 56-58% of global reserves. But that figure used to sit above 70%.

A full 79% of central bank respondents in the OMFIF survey said they see the global monetary system moving toward a multipolar world.

The World Gold Council released a complementary survey around the same time, and the numbers rhyme. Some 74% of central banks in that poll anticipate a moderate to significant reduction in the dollar’s share of global reserves over the next five years. Meanwhile, 84% expect their own gold reserves to grow.

An Invesco poll added another data point: 61% of participants flagged heightened concerns about US debt levels and their implications for the dollar’s reserve currency status. That percentage has been climbing in recent years.

Gold is already held by 82% of central banks, and a net 30% plan to increase their allocations within the next one to two years.

Why now, and why it matters for crypto

The alternatives being discussed include the euro, the Chinese renminbi, the Norwegian krone, the New Zealand dollar, and sterling. The renminbi has capital controls. The euro has structural questions. The krone is tied to a small economy.

Bitcoin and other digital assets have long been pitched as hedges against exactly this kind of macro shift: a world where trust in any single sovereign currency erodes and institutions seek neutral, non-state stores of value. The OMFIF survey didn’t mention crypto directly, but the macro environment it describes is one of fragmenting monetary trust and active diversification.

What investors should watch

A net 30% of central banks planning to buy more gold in the near term creates a structural demand floor that’s independent of retail sentiment or ETF flows.

The dollar’s share of global reserves didn’t drop from above 70% to roughly 57% because of one survey or one policy decision. Central banks are now telling us, on the record, that they plan to accelerate the trend.