From Yahoo Finance, December 2:
How an upstart global payment system led to Trump's latest tariff threat
Donald Trump's latest tariff threat appears to have stemmed at least in part from a nascent blockchain-based entrant into the influential world of global financial messaging.
The president-elect's move came in a Saturday afternoon post where he promised 100% tariffs on countries looking to move away from the dollar.
"[A]ny Country that tries should wave goodbye to America," he wrote.
The target was an organization called BRICS, which currently boasts 10 nations and is led by the Western adversaries of China and Russia.
One new product offering appears to be a key stumbling block.
"The proximate cause of Trump's threat is the development of BRICS Pay," wrote Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the president of the American Action Forum, in a Monday morning note.
BRICS Pay is a new attempt by the group to use digital payment and QR code technology to provide an alternative to dollar-dominated networks — specifically the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT)....
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