Saudi Arabia steps out of Mbridge digital currency project
The Financial Times has reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has withdrawn its participation from the Mbridge digital currency program that was led by China for cross border payments.
Still remaining in the program are the UAE, China, Hong Kong, and Thailand. Saudi Arabia’s withdrawal comes just after a report in June 2026, noting that China will soon launch its commercial version of mBridge, the Central Bank Digital currency (CBDC) platform built on blockchain, being utilized for cross border payments.
The new platform, which will soon be rolled out commercially, uses blockchain technology to transact directly between central banks using their own digital currencies, cutting the time and costs of foreign exchange transactions and reducing the role of the dollar as an intermediary currency.
The mBridge system began in 2021 as a Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub project linking the central banks of China, Hong Kong, Thailand and the UAE.
Saudi Arabia joined as a full participant in mid-2024, the same year the BIS reached its minimum viable product milestone.
Atlantic Council data show mBridge has now cleared more than 4,000 transactions worth roughly $55.5 billion, a 2,500-fold jump from its 2022 pilots, with China’s digital yuan accounting for about 95% of settlement volume.
Recently Macau joined a cross-border central bank digital currency settlement platform MBridge.
The departure also comes as SWIFT is testing and piloting its blockchain transaction system with banks in the region and globally. First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), has carried out its first live USD transaction using Swift’s Ledger a Minimum Viable Product, tokenized deposits on SWIFT smart contract settlements enabling 24/7 cross border payments.
Back in July 2026, Swift signed up 17 banks from six continents to try out its blockchain based ledger including First Abu Dhabi bank and Mashreq Bank in UAE. At the time of announcement, SWIFT noted that the banks would be piloting live transactions
