The Monopoly of SWIFT allowed the US to block payments and more of other Nations, Individuals if they did not fit it's mold.

Now...... finally there is some change on the horizon.
China urged to tap RCEP trade deal for future digital payments system as US sanctions loom
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership offers China a fresh opportunity to create an alternative to the SWIFT payments system

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-econ ... f17f&tc=25

Before this Chinese Approach BRICS had a similar plan i.e. which started in earnest back in 2009
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRICS BRIC nations announced the need for a new global reserve currency. BRICS involves 5 member states

Brazil
Russia
India
China
South Africa
which represent an estimated total population of about 3.21 billion, or about 26.656% of the world land surface and 41.53% of the world population

While i am sceptical of the current Bitcoin Hype which might drive many people into poverty when the Bubble bursts i don't think there is any way to avoid digital payments. Even Cambodia is working with Blockchain technology between the National Bank and Banks in Cambodia. It's also obvious that Governments around the world are not willing to give up the control of it's assets etc. The latest Tax Declaration Form of the US already has a line which you need to fill in which basically says : do you / did you have any digital currencies ?

Welcom to the fully transparent citizen.

China has never been a fan of making money easy to move across borders (especially out of China), but maybe this will change things up a bit.

Whilst Bitcoin will certainly slow down and become less volatile it's a bubble that isn't bursting.

This Russian govt media sourced article suggests that Europe "formed the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (Instex) to circumvent US control over SWIFT, with eight European nations joining the mechanism by 2020." https://www.tech2thai.com/general_news/939

Looks like China then has a foundation to build on, at least conceptually, if it pursues its own system.