Key facts
- Saudi Arabia has withdrawn from the mBridge cross-border digital currency project.
- The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) completed a proof of concept for mBridge on May 13, 2025.
- SAMA joined mBridge as a full participant in June 2024.
- mBridge was established in 2021 by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and central banks of China, Hong Kong, Thailand, and the UAE.
- The project aims to make cross-border payments faster and cheaper.
- mBridge allows central banks to transact in their own digital currencies on a shared ledger.
Saudi Arabia has withdrawn from mBridge, a cross-border digital currency project initiated by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and several central banks, including China's. The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) joined the project as a full participant in June 2024 and completed its proof of concept on May 13, 2025, stating its planned exit. mBridge, established in 2021, aims to facilitate faster and cheaper cross-border payments by allowing participating central banks to transact using their own digital currencies on a shared ledger. The BIS handed over the project to the participating central banks in October 2024 after it reached its minimum viable product stage. Despite assurances that the BIS departure was not politically motivated, the project has attracted scrutiny from US policymakers, who view it as a potential alternative settlement system for countries seeking to evade US sanctions. China's central bank, meanwhile, is increasingly focused on the role of stablecoins and CBDCs in cross-border payments.