China-Led CBDC Platform mBridge Tops $55 Billion in Transaction Volume

The mBridge multi-central bank digital currency (CBDC) platform, led by China, has successfully settled over 4,000 cross-border transactions totaling approximately $55.5 billion, marking a massive increase since its 2022 pilot phase. The platform currently involves central banks from mainland China, Hong Kong, Thailand, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, with China's digital yuan (e-CNY) accounting for about 95% of the settlement volume. This growth coincides with China scaling up its domestic e-CNY infrastructure, which recently processed transactions worth $2.4 trillion. Furthermore, China's central bank is introducing a framework to allow commercial banks to pay interest on e-CNY balances, aiming to transition the digital yuan into a "digital deposit currency" for value storage and internationalization. Analysts suggest these efforts are building parallel settlement rails to reduce dependence on dollar-centric systems, rather than directly challenging the US dollar. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) exited the project in 2024, clarifying it was a "graduation" and distancing itself from speculation that mBridge could be used for sanctions evasion.

(Source：Cointelegraph)