It has been two years since the launch of the minimum viable product for the mBridge initiative, which supports cross border payments using multiple wholesale central bank digital currencies (wCBDC). Now the Financial Times has reported that it is ready for the commercialization phase, and is considering incorporating in Hong Kong.
While the project was initiated by the Bank of Thailand and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, it was joined by the BIS as coordinator, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), the Central Bank of the UAE and later the Saudi Central Bank. The BIS subsequently withdrew. Key benefits of the project include greater speed and lower cost, which could especially appeal to smaller businesses, and it also reduces dependence on Swift.
China took on a central role as technology developer, and many now view the platform as Chinese, with the Financial Times describing it as drawing “Beijing closer to its ‘Belt and Road’ trading partners”. At the start of the year, the PBoC released figures showing RMB 387 billion in transactions ($57 billion), with more than 95% denominated in RMB. The dominance of China’s currency is partly because other participants had not yet officially launched their wCBDCs, with the UAE unveiling theirs in November 2025. The Financial Times reported that mBridge transactions have grown to RMB 470bn ($69bn) according to sources. In the past couple of weeks, two other regions have joined mBridge.
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