Saudi Arabia exits China backed mBridge digital currency project

Saudi Arabia has ended its participation in the China linked mBridge digital currency platform after completing a central bank digital currency trial in May 2025, removing the kingdom from a cross border payment project that has faced scrutiny in Washington over its potential to reduce reliance on the dollar.

Summary

• Saudi Arabia ended its mBridge participation after completing a planned CBDC proof of concept in May 2025.
• SAMA said the withdrawal was part of its original plan, while a source rejected suggestions that a wider inference should be drawn from the decision.
• mBridge enables direct cross border CBDC settlement between participating central banks and has faced US scrutiny over its potential to reduce reliance on dollar based payment systems.
• China has continued expanding cross border digital yuan infrastructure as mBridge moves toward commercial use.

According to a Financial Times report, the Saudi Central Bank, known as SAMA, confirmed it was no longer a participating member of mBridge after finishing its planned proof of concept on May 13, 2025.

SAMA said its departure was part of its original plan for testing the technology. The central bank initially joined mBridge as an observing member in 2023 under the Bank for International Settlements before taking part in the development of the platform’s minimum viable product and conducting its proof of concept in 2024.

“As planned, SAMA successfully completed its mBridge [proof of concept] on 13 May 2025. Following the completion of the PoC, SAMA is no longer a participating member of mBridge,” the central bank said.

Saudi Arabia had become an active participant in the project in 2024 alongside China, Hong Kong, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates. The BIS, which had helped develop the platform, left the project in October that year.

Saudi Arabia says mBridge exit followed its original plan

Questions over the Saudi withdrawal have centered on whether Riyadh faced pressure from Washington because of US concerns surrounding payment systems that could operate with less dependence on the dollar and conventional correspondent banking networks.

A person familiar with the matter told the FT that it would be “inaccurate to draw any wider inference” from SAMA’s decision because the central bank’s involvement in mBridge had been limited from the start.

Another person familiar with the situation said SAMA no longer wanted to be publicly involved in the project but continued to engage more discreetly.

The distinction comes as mBridge has drawn political attention in the United States. The blockchain based system allows participating central banks to transact using their own digital currencies, enabling payment and foreign exchange settlement without requiring the dollar to serve as the intermediary currency in every transaction.

Daleep Singh, who served as White House deputy national security adviser for international economics under former President Joe Biden, warned in 2025 that China could gain considerable influence over standards governing privacy, security, interoperability and enforcement of US sanctions through the platform.

President Donald Trump has separately threatened BRICS countries with tariffs if they pursue alternatives intended to replace the US dollar in international trade.

Eswar Prasad, a Cornell University professor and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told the FT that many US allies viewed systems such as mBridge as economically useful because they could reduce excessive dependence on the dollar dominated international financial system.

At the same time, those countries remained sensitive to US objections to projects that could reduce the dollar’s role or expand the use of China’s renminbi in international finance, Prasad said.

mBridge is moving toward commercial use

mBridge was developed as a wholesale CBDC system for direct cross border payments between participating financial institutions. Its blockchain infrastructure allows central banks and commercial banks to conduct payment and foreign exchange settlement through digital versions of national currencies.

China, Hong Kong, Thailand and the UAE were among the original central bank participants, with the BIS Innovation Hub initially involved in developing the infrastructure.

The project reached its minimum viable product stage in 2024, allowing participating jurisdictions to move beyond earlier experimental work toward real value transactions.

As crypto.news previously reported, People’s Bank of China Deputy Governor Lu Lei said in October 2024 that jurisdictions participating in mBridge would need to respect each other’s monetary rules while maintaining a balance between their rights and responsibilities.

Lu said the system should reduce barriers and costs in cross border payments without creating new geopolitical or compliance costs. Former PBOC Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said at the time that mBridge’s relationship with the US dollar would depend not only on technological development but on policy decisions in Western countries.

The BIS left the initiative later in October 2024. Agustín Carstens, its general manager at the time, said the institution had “graduated out” of the project because participating central banks were capable of continuing the work themselves.

Carstens rejected suggestions that the BIS departure meant mBridge had failed or that its decision had been driven by political considerations. The FT separately reported that Washington had pressured the institution to withdraw.

Macau has since joined the network, extending mBridge beyond its earlier group of participating monetary authorities. The system went live in Macau in June 2026, giving local banks access to the cross border CBDC infrastructure.

China keeps expanding cross border digital yuan payments

China has continued building other channels for international digital yuan settlement alongside mBridge.

In July, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China completed the first digital yuan payment between China and Singapore through the upgraded Digital Currency Express platform. The transaction settled nearly 10 million yuan in import shipping fees, with the funds reaching the Singapore recipient on the same day.

The Digital Currency Express system is operated through China’s international digital yuan infrastructure and supports both centralized and blockchain based settlement. Its 2026 upgrade combined earlier cross border payment, blockchain service and digital asset systems into one network using ISO 20022 messaging standards.

ICBC later expanded its use of the infrastructure for international payments, while its Inner Mongolia branch completed a 220 million yuan transfer to Hong Kong through the multilateral CBDC bridge.

Chinese authorities have been extending the digital yuan network domestically as well. The PBOC added eight commercial banks to the e CNY operating network in August, taking the number of service operators to 30.

Official figures cited when China revised its digital yuan framework showed the currency had processed 3.48 billion transactions by November 2025. Beginning in January 2026, verified digital yuan wallets were permitted to earn interest as authorities moved the currency beyond its earlier electronic cash model.

China’s central bank has kept cross border payments among the areas under development. Wang Xin, director general of the PBOC Research Bureau, said in June that stablecoins could take on a larger role in international payments while calling for closer monitoring of their effect on payment infrastructure and the international monetary system.

Wang called for continued international cooperation on CBDCs as central banks test new settlement systems, while the PBOC has been monitoring stablecoin use as another potential channel for international transactions.

Saudi Arabia had remained among the jurisdictions named in China’s cross border digital yuan plans even after SAMA says its mBridge proof of concept ended. Chinese authorities outlined plans in 2026 to expand cross border e CNY pilots involving Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, while SAMA’s newly disclosed statement places the end of its formal mBridge participation on May 13, 2025.