Saudi Arabia ends participation in mBridge CBDC project

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Saudi Arabia ends mBridge CBDC project

Highlights

Saudi Central Bank exited mBridge on May 13, 2025, after completing its proof of concept, ending participation planned since its June 2024 entry.
Bank for International Settlements will support mBridge until October 2024, handing it to central banks as the platform reaches minimum viable product status.
U.S. policymakers scrutinize mBridge for potentially enabling countries to bypass U.S. sanctions, while China calls for increased oversight and coordination on cross-border CBDC usage.

Mbridge timeline and Saudi exit

As reported by the Financial Times, the Saudi Central Bank, also known as SAMA, says it ended its participation in mBridge on May 13, 2025 after completing a proof of concept. SAMA had joined the project as a full participant in June 2024 and says it had planned to end its participation.

Mbridge was set up in 2021 through cooperation between the Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub and the central banks of China, Hong Kong, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates. The platform is designed to let participating central banks issue and transact in their own digital currencies on a shared ledger, including for cross-border payments and foreign exchange transactions.

The Bank for International Settlements continues to support the project until October 2024, when it hands mBridge over to the participating central banks after it reaches the minimum viable product stage. Then-BIS General Manager Agustin Carstens says the institution's departure is not politically motivated.

Cross-border payments face geopolitical pressure

Mbridge nevertheless draws scrutiny from U.S. policymakers over its potential role in reshaping international settlement channels. A 2024 report from the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission says the platform could eventually offer an alternative cross-border settlement system for countries seeking to evade U.S. sanctions.

At the same time, China is increasingly focusing on how stablecoins and central bank digital currencies could be used in cross-border payments. In June, People's Bank of China Research Bureau director general Wang Xin calls for closer monitoring of stablecoins and CBDCs in cross-border transactions, along with greater international coordination.

Those comments come months after Chinese authorities restrict the unauthorized issuance of renminbi-pegged stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets, including by foreign entities. Saudi Arabia's exit from mBridge adds to signs that digital payments infrastructure remains shaped not only by technology and efficiency goals, but also by regulatory and strategic considerations.

In our earlier article, we examined the A7 network, a Kremlin-backed fintech structure created to keep Russian cross-border payments moving after major banks were cut off from SWIFT. We noted that leaked files pointed to billions of dollars routed through global banks using shell companies and forged trade documents, highlighting how payment rails can be repurposed for sanctions evasion and exposing ongoing AML vulnerabilities in correspondent banking.

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