The China-backed cross-border digital currency platform mBridge has handled more than $55 billion in transactions, reflecting growing momentum behind payment systems designed to operate outside traditional dollar-based infrastructure.

Project mBridge, a multi–central bank digital currency platform, has now settled over 4,000 cross-border transactions with a combined value of about $55.5 billion, according to figures compiled by the Atlantic Council. This represents an almost 2,500-fold increase compared with the project’s early pilot stage in 2022.

The platform is currently being tested by central banks in mainland China, Hong Kong, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Settlement activity remains heavily concentrated in China’s digital yuan, or e-CNY, which accounts for an estimated 95% of total transaction volume on mBridge.

This growth has unfolded alongside a rapid expansion of China’s domestic CBDC ecosystem. Data from the People’s Bank of China shows that the e-CNY has processed more than 3.4 billion transactions totaling roughly 16.7 trillion yuan, or about $2.4 trillion, marking an increase of more than 800% compared with 2023.

Digital yuan evolves beyond payments

China is also moving to broaden the role of its digital currency. As previously reported, the central bank is rolling out a framework that will allow commercial banks to pay interest on e-CNY wallet balances, a step aimed at pushing the digital yuan beyond its initial function as a cash-like payment instrument.

According to the People’s Bank of China, the new framework will make it possible for banks to integrate the digital yuan into their asset and liability management processes. PBOC Deputy Governor Lu Lei said the e-CNY is set to evolve into a “digital deposit currency,” expanding its use cases to include value storage and cross-border payments alongside everyday transactions.

“Taken together, these developments point to a gradual expansion of the yuan’s internationalization through digital infrastructure,” Atlantic Council analyst Alisha Chhangani told Reuters. Rather than directly challenging the US dollar’s dominance, she added, China and its partners appear to be constructing parallel settlement channels that reduce reliance on existing dollar-centered systems.

BIS steps back as focus shifts elsewhere

In 2024, the Bank for International Settlements reduced its involvement in mBridge, a project it had supported through its Innovation Hub since 2021. The BIS described the move as a “graduation” rather than a withdrawal. At the time, BIS General Manager Agustín Carstens sought to dispel concerns that mBridge could be used by BRICS countries to circumvent international sanctions, stating that “mBridge is not the BRICS bridge.”

Carstens emphasized that BIS systems cannot be accessed by sanctioned jurisdictions, even as overlap between mBridge participants and BRICS members continued to fuel debate around the project’s geopolitical significance. Since then, the BIS has redirected its efforts toward Project Agorá, a separate initiative involving several major Western central banks that has recently entered an expanded testing phase.

Sources:

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/econographics/what-to-watch-as-china-prepares-its-digital-yuan-for-prime-time/

https://english.www.gov.cn/news/202512/29/content_WS69526d4ec6d00ca5f9a08511.html

https://cointelegraph.com/news/china-led-cbdc-mbridge-55b-payments