The mBridge initiative, a digital currency platform led by China and tested by central banks from China, Hong Kong, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, has achieved notable growth, processing transactions totaling more than $55.5 billion according to data compiled by the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank.
This platform, which entered its developmental stages in early 2022, has seen a transactional value increase by roughly 2,500 times, crossing the milestone of 4,000 cross-border transactions. Approximately 95% of the transaction volume is estimated to be conducted using the digital yuan, often referred to as the e-CNY.
Globally, the e-CNY currently stands as the largest live experiment of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Recent disclosures from the People's Bank of China (PBOC) revealed that the digital yuan has facilitated more than 3.4 billion transactions valued around 16.7 trillion yuan ($2.4 trillion), marking a more than 800% growth compared to figures from 2023.
Additionally, Chinese state media recently reported plans for the e-CNY to begin offering interest payments to digital currency holders in bank accounts and digital wallets starting this year, an initiative anticipated to encourage higher usage rates among consumers.
Alisha Chhangani from the Atlantic Council commented that these developments indicate a methodical advancement in the internationalization of the yuan through digital infrastructure. She emphasized that, rather than aiming to displace the US dollar directly, China and other involved nations are constructing parallel settlement systems that diminish dependency on traditional dollar-based platforms.
Chhangani noted, "Project mBridge is unlikely to unseat dollar dominance immediately but could gradually chip away at it over time." Attempts to obtain comment from the PBOC on these figures went unanswered outside of standard business hours.
Global policymakers are closely monitoring the progression of mBridge as it moves forward. Initially, the project operated under the supervision of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), a Switzerland-based central bank body; however, the institution withdrew from mBridge in late 2024. The BIS has since redirected its focus to a separate project involving seven primarily Western central banks, including the New York Federal Reserve, Banque de France on the European Central Bank’s behalf, Bank of Japan, Swiss National Bank, and Bank of England.
This week, the latter group, collaborating with over 40 major commercial banks, announced an intensification of their testing activities. Despite these efforts, mBridge currently remains significantly more advanced in its development.
In November, the Ministry of Finance of the United Arab Emirates together with the Dubai Department of Finance executed the platform's first government transaction using a wholesale digital dirham, marking a notable milestone for mBridge’s practical implementation.
Looking ahead, Chhangani projected that mBridge will increasingly concentrate on trade settlements, particularly in energy and commodity-linked transactions. This focus aligns with China’s established influential role in these commercial sectors.