Recently, several images have been circulated on various internet platforms with the caption: “Russian President Vladimir Putin has released a picture of a potential BRICS currency. Putin published the picture on his X account. …Countless countries from the three continents of Asia, Africa, and South America will start joining BRICS, and the world will transact in three currencies: the Dollar, the Euro, and the BRICS. The currency also has a picture of the Bangladeshi flag, which is the sole contribution of Sheikh Hasina.” The images claim to show a potential currency for the international organization BRICS.
See posts circulated with this claim on Facebook here (archive), here (archive), and here (archive).
See the post circulated on Instagram here (archive).
Fact-Check
The Rumor Scanner team’s investigation found that the note in the circulated photo is a commemorative or sample note, and no post was made from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s X account claiming it to be a potential BRICS currency.
At the beginning of the investigation, no post supporting the claim was found on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s official X account. The last post on the account was made on March 16, 2022.
An investigation into the circulated note led to a report published on the website of the Russian online media outlet Lenta.RU on October 23, 2024. A photo of a note similar to the one in the circulated picture was found in the report.
In the report, Vladimir Putin is seen holding a ’50’ denomination note that matches the circulated one. The report states that during the BRICS summit held in Kazan, Russia, in October 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin was presented with a ‘symbolic banknote’ on behalf of the intergovernmental organization, symbolizing the joint work of the BRICS member countries.
The report mentions that before the Kazan BRICS summit, Vladimir Putin said in a meeting with media heads of member countries that it would be too early to create a single BRICS currency. According to him, the matter has not yet matured, and there is no need to rush it.
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov also stated that the creation of a single BRICS currency is not currently being considered. At the same time, he mentioned considering the creation of an alternative financial settlement and payment system.
The same image and information were also found in a report published on the website of the Russian state media outlet Rossiyskaya Gazeta on October 24, 2024.
The report further reveals that the idea of creating a commemorative note came from Yevgeny Fedorov, the director of the Kirzhach printing house. The idea was born several years ago, and this type of 100 BRICS denomination note was first issued on the eve of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg in 2023.
Therefore, the claim that a picture of a potential BRICS note was published from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s X handle is false.
