Saudi Arabia Joins BIS’ CBDC Project mBridge as a Full Participant
Saudi Arabia's central bank has joined Project mBridge, a cross-border experiment with central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) for international trade. The project, launched in 2021 by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in collaboration with the central banks of China, Hong Kong, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates, tests the viability of CBDCs for instantaneous cross-border trade and other payments using the mBridge Ledger blockchain. The project has reached the minimum viable product stage and is seeking proposals from private sector financial firms to develop the platform further. In addition to the six full participants, 27 other entities including the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and central banks of countries like Norway, South Korea, and Turkey are observers. Major global financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs, HSBC, and China's six largest state-owned banks are also involved in the project.
