Saudi Arabia has withdrawn from mBridge, the China-backed cross-border central bank digital currency project, according to the Financial Times. The platform was built to let central banks transact directly with one another.
The Financial Times, citing a statement from the Saudi Central Bank, said SAMA joined mBridge as a full participant in June 2024 and ended its participation on May 13, 2025 after completing a proof of concept. SAMA said it had planned to end its participation.
How mBridge was set up
mBridge was established in 2021 through a collaboration between the Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub and the central banks of China, Hong Kong, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates. Its stated goal was to make cross-border payments faster and cheaper.
Instead of using a single stablecoin, the platform allows participating central banks to issue and transact in their own digital currencies on a shared ledger. Those transactions can cover cross-border payments as well as foreign exchange activity.
BIS handed the project to participating central banks
The project continued under the BIS until October 2024, when the organization transferred it to the participating central banks after mBridge reached the minimum viable product stage. Then-BIS General Manager Agustín Carstens said the BIS exit was not politically motivated.
US policymakers have scrutinized the project
mBridge has drawn scrutiny from US policymakers. A 2024 report from the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission said the platform could eventually provide an alternative cross-border settlement system for countries seeking to evade US sanctions.
Cointelegraph said it contacted the Saudi Central Bank for comment but had not received a response by the time of publication.
China is also weighing digital currencies in cross-border payments
At the same time, China’s central bank has been paying closer attention to the role digital currencies may play in cross-border payments as stablecoin use expands globally.
In June, Wang Xin, director general of the Research Bureau at the People’s Bank of China, called for closer monitoring of stablecoins and central bank digital currencies in cross-border payments, along with greater international coordination.
Those remarks came months after Chinese authorities restricted the unauthorized issuance of renminbi-pegged stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets, including issuance by foreign entities.