Saudi Arabia withdraws from China-led mBridge digital currency project

Saudi Arabia has officially withdrawn from mBridge, a China-led cross-border payments platform designed to allow central banks to transact directly using digital currencies, the Financial Times reported on September 20.

The Saudi Central Bank, or SAMA, confirmed to the FT that it was no longer participating in the project after completing its proof-of-concept phase in May 2025. SAMA first joined mBridge as an observer in 2023 before becoming a participant in the platform's minimum viable product phase in 2024. Riyadh said the withdrawal was part of its original plan and did not indicate that the decision was necessarily linked to US pressure.

Media additions

Saudi Arabia Withdraws From mBridge Digital Currency Platform After Planned - Hokanews

Yet alternate reporting details a more complex administrative friction behind the scenes. According to analysis published by Ainvest, Saudi auditors conducted an internal review that surfaced acute concerns regarding data governance across multiple jurisdictions and whether the platform's underlying legal framework aligned with domestic regulations and the guidelines of the Financial Action Task Force. While a person familiar with the matter cautioned against over-interpreting political motives, the intersection of Chinese financial infrastructure and Western regulatory scrutiny has consistently placed Middle Eastern economies in a delicate balancing act.

The FT reported that US officials have previously raised concerns that China could gain influence over standards governing the platform, including areas such as security, interoperability and sanctions enforcement. The BIS also left mBridge in October 2024. Former BIS general manager Agustín Carstens subsequently said the BIS had "graduated out" of the project and that its departure was not due to political considerations.

Despite these high-level departures, the platform itself has continued to register substantial transaction volumes. Data compiled by the Atlantic Council and highlighted on TradingView shows that mBridge has settled over 4,000 cross-border transactions valued at approximately $55.5 billion. China’s digital yuan, or e-CNY, accounts for an estimated 95% of total settlement volume on mBridge. Recent figures from the People’s Bank of China show the e-CNY has processed more than 3.4 billion transactions worth around 16.7 trillion yuan ($2.4 trillion), representing an increase of over 800% compared with 2023.

Observer commentary underscores the broader ideological split in global monetary engineering. Cornell University professor and Brookings senior fellow Eswar Prasad noted via Moneycontrol that some US allies view initiatives such as mBridge as useful for reducing dependence on the dollar-based financial system. Atlantic Council analyst Alisha Chhangani observed via TradingView that these initiatives represent a gradual internationalization of alternative currencies rather than an overnight overthrow of existing financial hierarchies.

As the remaining members — China, Hong Kong, Thailand, the UAE — will carry the project on, market watchers will be tracking several key developments across the business landscape:

• Future disclosures from SAMA regarding alternative wholesale digital currency research.
• Expansion of the e-CNY framework by the People's Bank of China for international cross-border asset management.
• Progress updates on Western-led counterpart initiatives such as Project Agorá.
• Further regulatory adjustments by international watchdogs concerning permissioned multi-jurisdiction ledgers.

The FT also reported that a person familiar with the matter said Saudi Arabia no longer wanted to be publicly involved with mBridge, while suggesting that it continued to engage with the project more discreetly.