In a world increasingly fragmented by geopolitical distrust, the race to decouple from dominant currencies is gaining urgency. As cross-border alliances shift and global trade becomes more fractured, financial advisor Akshat Shrivastava sees a new contender emerging on the monetary horizon: net-neutral currencies. These independent financial systems, untethered from any single nation’s influence, are being hailed as potential buffers against inflation, manipulation, and unilateral power plays. And Shrivastava believes Bitcoin might be the only true contender left standing.

Shrivastava, founder of Wisdom Hatch, highlighted the growing appeal of net-neutral currencies in a world moving toward de-globalisation. Sharing his perspective on X (formerly Twitter), he pointed to deepening mistrust among global powers as a catalyst.

“India doesn’t trust the US. US doesn’t trust China. China doesn’t trust India,” he wrote. “Point is: as the world gets more de-globalised, countries will move to something called net-neutral currencies.”

He explained that the current system — where countries like China get paid in USD for exports — puts exporters at a disadvantage. “This USD can be deflated (i.e. its buying power can be made to go away), if the US prints too much of USD. For eg. if US suddenly decides to print 20% of all of its money supply in 1 year, then effectively: 20% of the buying power of US dollar would go away. And, China as a net exporter to the US would suffer.”

Shrivastava acknowledged past efforts to move beyond the US dollar, referencing BRICS currency proposals, the INR trade settlement system, and central bank digital currencies. “But, nothing worked. Why? because no nation is stupid to replace the USD with let’s say China Dollar. In simple words: none of the nation’s currencies are net neutral.”

So what could fill the vacuum? “The short answer is: Gold, BTC,” he said.

He continued: “Why? because these are NOT controlled by 1 single country. And, the supply is somewhat fixed.” Gold, however, has its own issues. “Australia for eg has 12,000MT of Gold; whereas US has 3000MT. So why would US agree to push up gold trading?”

As for Bitcoin, he argued, its limited supply and decentralised nature make it a unique candidate. “This is not a push that you should go and buy BTC. Your money, do what you like. I am just explaining you: that it looks like there is no other net-neutral currency in the world (except BTC).”