Saudi Arabia exits China-backed mBridge CBDC project: FT
Saudi Arabia has left mBridge, a cross-border CBDC platform that has drawn scrutiny from US policymakers, according to the Financial Times.
Asanat Analysis — Why it matters
Saudi Arabia's departure from mBridge signals fracturing consensus among emerging-market central banks on China-backed payment infrastructure. The project, which included participation from UAE, Thailand, and Hong Kong, was positioned as an alternative to SWIFT and dollar-denominated settlement—but US regulatory pressure appears to be fragmenting the coalition. This exit underscores how geopolitical alignment still trumps technological efficiency in CBDC adoption, particularly when participation invokes sanctions risk or threatens dollar primacy.
The timing matters: as the US tightens scrutiny on de-dollarization initiatives and China accelerates its own digital yuan rollout, defections from multilateral CBDC projects create a vacuum. Saudi Arabia's energy-sector dominance and petrodollar dependence mean its participation was symbolically critical to mBridge's legitimacy. Without it, the platform risks becoming perceived as a China-centric tool rather than a neutral cross-border settlement layer, reducing its appeal to banks seeking geopolitical cover. This could also signal broader skepticism about CBDC interoperability standards that don't include Western central banks.