Saudi Arabia’s central bank, SAMA, has exited the mBridge project—a China-backed initiative aimed at streamlining cross-border payments using central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). The decision followed SAMA’s completion of a proof of concept on May 13, 2025, after joining the project in June 2024. According to a statement from SAMA, the central bank had planned to withdraw from the collaboration, which was designed to facilitate direct transactions between participating central banks without relying on a single stablecoin. Instead, participants issued their own CBDCs on a shared ledger for cross-border payments and foreign exchange operations.
Saudi Arabia withdraws from mBridge CBDC project after proof of concept
SAMA ended participation in a China-led cross-border digital currency initiative following a successful pilot in May 2025, marking an exit from a BIS-backed platform designed for central bank digital currency transactions.
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Elena Kovač · Central Banks Desk · 22 Sept 2026 · 00:04 · 1 min read
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited by a Finance Review Daily journalist.
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Elena Kovač
Central Banks Desk
Elena covers macroeconomic data and policy across the eurozone, translating industrial output, inflation and growth figures into what they mean for markets.
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