Project mBridge has processed 4,047 transactions totalling $55.49 billion in settlement volume - a roughly 2,500-fold increase from the $22 million processed during the 2022 pilot. The milestone confirms that the multi-CBDC platform has moved well beyond experimental volumes, but the composition of that volume raises questions about the platform's trajectory.
e-CNY Concentration at 95%
China's digital yuan accounts for over 95% of total mBridge settlement volume, according to Atlantic Council CBDC Tracker data. The concentration reveals that mBridge, while structured as a multilateral platform with five participating central banks (PBoC, HKMA, Bank of Thailand, CBUAE, and the Saudi Central Bank), functions in practice as a predominantly Chinese settlement channel.
This dynamic was foreseeable. China has the largest economy among the participating jurisdictions and the most advanced CBDC in terms of domestic deployment, with the e-CNY now reaching 230 million wallet users. But the 95% figure suggests that other participating currencies - the Thai baht, UAE dirham, Hong Kong dollar, and Saudi riyal - have seen limited utilisation on the platform to date.
Post-BIS Governance
The BIS exited Project mBridge in October 2024, citing a desire to focus resources elsewhere while expressing satisfaction with the platform's progress. Governance now sits with the five participating central banks, raising questions about the platform's neutrality and direction.
The UAE has demonstrated its commitment to the platform by executing its first government financial transaction using the wholesale digital dirham on mBridge. Saudi Arabia, which joined as the fifth member in 2024, has been less publicly active on the platform.
Strategic Questions
The $55 billion volume figure, while headline-worthy, requires context. Spread across 4,047 transactions, the average transaction size is approximately $13.7 million - consistent with wholesale settlement rather than retail flows. The platform appears to function primarily as a large-value cross-border settlement mechanism, which aligns with its design but limits its relevance to broader cross-border payment reform efforts.
The central question for mBridge's next phase is whether the other participating central banks can build sufficient domestic digital currency infrastructure and commercial use cases to diversify the platform's currency mix beyond its current e-CNY concentration.