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The Saudi Central Bank, commonly known as SAMA, has officially concluded its participation in Project mBridge, a high-profile cross-border digital currency initiative led by China and several other founding central banks. According to a report by the Financial Times, the kingdom’s withdrawal comes after the completion of a targeted proof of concept on May 13, 2025. SAMA, which joined the initiative as a full participant in June 2024, characterized the departure as a planned conclusion to its specific experimental objectives within the framework. The exit marks a significant shift in the project’s membership, as Saudi Arabia was viewed as a critical bridge between Western-aligned financial systems and the emerging digital currency infrastructure spearheaded by the East.
Project mBridge was established in 2021 through a collaborative effort between the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub and the central banks of China, Hong Kong, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The platform was designed to revolutionize the global payment landscape by enabling direct, peer-to-peer transactions between central banks using Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). By bypassing the traditional correspondent banking system, mBridge aimed to significantly reduce the time and costs associated with international trade settlements.
Chronology of mBridge Development and Saudi Participation
The timeline of Project mBridge reflects a rapid evolution from a conceptual framework to a functional minimum viable product (MVP). The project originated from the "Inthanon-LionRock" initiative between Thailand and Hong Kong, which was expanded in 2021 to include the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and the Central Bank of the UAE under the BIS umbrella.
In June 2024, Saudi Arabia’s entry into the project was hailed as a milestone for the internationalization of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). As a major global energy exporter and a cornerstone of the petrodollar system, Saudi Arabia’s involvement suggested a potential pivot toward alternative settlement mechanisms for oil and gas. SAMA’s participation was intended to test the feasibility of using the mBridge Ledger for large-value cross-border payments, aligning with the kingdom’s Vision 2030 goals of financial sector modernization.
However, the governance of the project underwent a major transition in October 2024. The BIS, which had provided the technical and neutral international framework for the project, announced it would step back from mBridge. This move followed the project’s attainment of its MVP stage. At the time, then-BIS General Manager Agustín Carstens emphasized that the organization’s departure was not politically motivated, stating that the project had reached a level of maturity where it could be managed independently by the participating central banks. Despite these assurances, the BIS exit coincided with increasing geopolitical scrutiny regarding the platform’s potential to circumvent Western financial oversight.
The conclusion of Saudi Arabia’s involvement on May 13, 2025, follows less than a year of full membership. While SAMA has stated that the exit was part of its internal roadmap after finishing its proof-of-concept phase, the move has sparked intense discussion among financial analysts regarding the kingdom’s long-term strategy for digital finance and its diplomatic balancing act between the United States and China.
Technical Infrastructure and the mBridge Ledger
The technical core of mBridge is the mBridge Ledger, a custom-built blockchain designed to handle high-frequency, cross-border transactions. Unlike traditional systems that rely on a single intermediary currency—typically the U.S. dollar—mBridge allows participating central banks to issue and transact in their own sovereign digital currencies on a shared platform.
This "multi-CBDC" approach eliminates the need for the complex web of correspondent banks that currently characterizes global finance. In the traditional model, a payment from a bank in Thailand to a bank in Saudi Arabia might pass through several intermediary banks in New York or London, adding fees and delays at each step. On the mBridge Ledger, the transaction occurs directly between the central banks of the two nations, with settlement happening in real-time.
Data from the BIS during the pilot phases indicated that mBridge could reduce cross-border payment times from several days to mere seconds. Furthermore, the cost of these transactions was estimated to be up to 50% lower than traditional methods. For a nation like Saudi Arabia, which manages massive trade flows in the energy sector, such efficiencies represent significant economic potential. However, the decentralized and direct nature of these payments also means they occur outside the purview of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), the primary messaging network used for international payments.
Geopolitical Scrutiny and the Role of the U.S. Dollar
The departure of Saudi Arabia from mBridge cannot be viewed in isolation from the broader geopolitical tensions surrounding the "de-dollarization" narrative. The U.S. dollar has served as the world’s primary reserve currency and the medium for global oil trade for decades, a system often referred to as the petrodollar. Any move by Saudi Arabia to adopt a system that facilitates trade in non-dollar currencies, such as the Chinese renminbi, is viewed with concern by policymakers in Washington.
A 2024 report from the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission explicitly highlighted mBridge as a potential risk to U.S. national security. The report argued that the platform could provide a "sanction-proof" alternative settlement system, allowing countries to bypass U.S. financial sanctions and reducing the efficacy of the dollar as a tool of foreign policy. The commission warned that if mBridge achieved widespread adoption, it could erode the transparency of global financial flows, making it harder for international regulators to track money laundering and terrorist financing.
Saudi Arabia’s decision to exit the project following its proof of concept may reflect a strategic choice to maintain its neutral stance. By participating in the trial, SAMA gained valuable technical insights and demonstrated its capability to operate in the DLT space. However, by exiting before the platform moves into full-scale commercial operations, the kingdom avoids a direct confrontation with U.S. financial interests and maintains its deep ties to the dollar-based global economy.
China’s Strategy for Digital Currencies and Stablecoins
While Saudi Arabia scales back its involvement, China continues to push forward with its digital currency ambitions. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has been a primary driver of mBridge, viewing it as a vehicle to promote the international use of the e-CNY (digital yuan). For Beijing, mBridge represents an opportunity to build a regional and potentially global financial infrastructure that is independent of Western control.
In parallel with the CBDC developments, Chinese authorities are also refining their stance on stablecoins. In June 2024, Wang Xin, director general of the PBOC’s Research Bureau, called for enhanced international coordination and closer monitoring of stablecoins in cross-border payments. This reflects a dual-track strategy: while the PBOC tightly regulates domestic stablecoin issuance to prevent capital flight and maintain monetary sovereignty, it recognizes the expanding role of these assets in global trade.
Chinese authorities have recently moved to restrict the unauthorized issuance of renminbi-pegged stablecoins by foreign entities, ensuring that any digital representation of the national currency remains under the strict oversight of the central bank. This regulatory environment underscores China’s intent to lead the digital finance space through state-backed initiatives rather than private-sector innovations.
Implications for the Future of Global Payments
The withdrawal of Saudi Arabia from mBridge is a significant development, but it does not necessarily signal the end of the project or the wider trend toward digital settlement systems. The remaining participants—China, Hong Kong, Thailand, and the UAE—represent a powerful economic bloc with a shared interest in reducing their reliance on the U.S. dollar and the correspondent banking system.
For the global financial community, the Saudi exit highlights the "balancing act" that many middle-power nations must perform. As the world moves toward a more multipolar financial system, central banks are increasingly forced to choose between the efficiency of new, DLT-based platforms and the security and stability provided by established Western institutions.
The data gathered during SAMA’s participation will likely inform Saudi Arabia’s own domestic digital currency projects. The kingdom has previously collaborated with the UAE on "Project Aber," a separate CBDC experiment designed for bilateral settlements. It is possible that Riyadh will focus on smaller, regional, or bilateral digital currency initiatives that carry less geopolitical weight than a China-backed multilateral platform like mBridge.
In the long term, the success of mBridge will depend on whether it can attract new participants to replace the void left by Saudi Arabia. Other nations in the BRICS+ bloc or Southeast Asia may see the platform as an attractive way to streamline trade with China. However, without the participation of major global financial hubs and energy exporters like Saudi Arabia, the platform’s goal of becoming a truly global alternative to the current system remains a significant challenge.
As of publication, the Saudi Central Bank has not provided additional comments on its future plans for cross-border digital payments. The financial world continues to watch closely as the divide between traditional Western-led financial systems and emerging digital alternatives continues to widen, with mBridge remaining at the center of this transformative struggle.
