iBRICS Summit 2026: New charter aims to boost digital assets and cross-border payments

The inaugural iBRICS Summit 2026 in New Delhi concluded with the signing of the iBRICS DART Charter, a framework aimed at improving cooperation on digital assets, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and cross-border payments across the Global South. The two-day summit, organised by the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute (SWFI), brought together more than 500 institutional investors, government representatives and business leaders.

The charter establishes the BRICS DART Working Group to focus on multi-currency clearing, CBDC interoperability and real-world asset tokenisation. The summit also aimed to strengthen the integration of national fast-payment systems, such as India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Brazil’s Pix, while reducing reliance on traditional cross-border payment intermediaries.

iBRICS Summit brings industry voices together

The summit featured discussions with prominent technology, fintech and business leaders. Lakshmi Narayanan, chairman of SWFI and lead co-chair of iBRICS 2026, spoke about the convergence of AI, deep tech, fintech, digital assets, sovereign capital and cross-border investing.

Tim Popplewell, a fintech founder and CEO, also shared his perspective on the evolving financial technology landscape. Other speakers included former American Hotel & Lodging Association president Chip Rogers and a former member of the Georgia State Senate.

iBRICS DART Charter focuses on digital finance

The iBRICS DART Charter was signed during the BRICS Digital Asset Round Table. According to SWFI, the working group will serve as an industry secretariat to the BRICS payments task force.

The framework includes guidelines for local-currency settlements, the tokenisation of assets such as gold and oil, and non-dollar payment rails. It also supports the UN Sustainable Development Goal of reducing the cost of cross-border transfers to less than 3% and emphasises central banks' monetary sovereignty.

The summit comes amid recent developments involving the BRICS payments task force and discussions with the Reserve Bank of India.

UPI, Pix and CBDCs take centre stage

Payment interoperability was one of the key topics discussed at the summit. Delegates explored the possibility of integrating cross-border faster payment systems, including India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Brazil’s Pix.

CBDC interoperability was another major area of discussion. The broader objective is to develop payment systems that enable more efficient settlement of transactions in local currencies among participating economies.

SWFI chairman and iBRICS 2026 lead co-chair Lakshmi Narayanan said the DART Charter would serve as a pillar for building a more resilient financial architecture in the Global South.

Co-chair Dushyant Khanna said the summit was intended to bring together the large sovereign capital flows of BRICS economies with bankable projects.