Scanned ChainCatcher (Financial Times): Saudi Arabia withdrew from Beijing-led cross-border digital currency project mBridge—this was a plan to use blockchain so that each country's central banks could settle directly using their own digital currencies, shortening foreign-exchange routes and reducing the U.S. dollar's intermediary role.
The report says the platform is nearing commercialization, and there has been substantial controversy in the U.S.: outsiders worry that participating parties may use it to bypass traditional cross-border payments dominated by the U.S. dollar (such as Swift). In June 2024, the Saudi Central Bank joined the project with a wholesale CBDC verification effort, and said that on May 13, 2025, it had completed a concept proof; after that, it was no longer a formal member.
With one major Gulf participant missing, can the CBDC cross-border bridge still take shape? Beyond the technology, geopolitical tensions and the strain within the U.S. dollar system have always been there.#CBDC #Cross-border payments
The report says the platform is nearing commercialization, and there has been substantial controversy in the U.S.: outsiders worry that participating parties may use it to bypass traditional cross-border payments dominated by the U.S. dollar (such as Swift). In June 2024, the Saudi Central Bank joined the project with a wholesale CBDC verification effort, and said that on May 13, 2025, it had completed a concept proof; after that, it was no longer a formal member.
With one major Gulf participant missing, can the CBDC cross-border bridge still take shape? Beyond the technology, geopolitical tensions and the strain within the U.S. dollar system have always been there.#CBDC #Cross-border payments
