China-led mBridge corridor clears about $55.5 billion in settlements

A China-led wholesale digital currency platform known as mBridge has processed more than 4,000 cross-border transactions with a cumulative settlement value of roughly $55.49–$55.5 billion, according to data compiled by the Atlantic Council. The milestone marks a dramatic acceleration in the platform’s activity since early pilots in 2022 and underscores the e-CNY’s outsized role in emerging alternatives to dollar-dominated payment rails.

Launched as a cooperation among the People’s Bank of China, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Bank of Thailand, the central banks of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, mBridge began life under the Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub. Initial 2022 pilots processed just 164 transactions totaling about $22 million. The recent figures represent roughly a 2,500-fold increase in transaction value since those early tests.

Across the mBridge transactions, China’s digital yuan, or e-CNY, accounted for an estimated 95.0 to 95.3 percent of settlement volume. That dominance reflects both the scale of China’s domestic rollout and the preferences of participants in the corridor. Separately, the People’s Bank of China reported that the retail e-CNY has processed more than 3.4 billion transactions with a cumulative value near 16.7 trillion yuan, roughly $2.3–$2.4 trillion by late 2025, figures that align closely with independent tallies.

Operational milestones have moved the pilot beyond laboratory testing toward practical integration. In November 2025, the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Finance and the Dubai Department of Finance executed the first government financial transaction using a wholesale digital dirham on mBridge, testing direct settlement between government payment systems without intermediaries. That transaction was presented by participating authorities as a formal launch-phase milestone and a test of operational readiness.

The platform’s governance changed as it scaled. The BIS Innovation Hub reduced its direct involvement in late 2024 and governance was transferred to the participating central banks. The BIS has since emphasized other projects, including Project Agorá, and has said it prefers to avoid direct engagement in jurisdictions subject to sanctions. The transfer of oversight to national authorities has allowed mBridge participants to push ahead with broader pilots and real-world tests.

Policy shifts inside China have reinforced the e-CNY’s utility for cross-border use. The People’s Bank of China is moving to expand the e-CNY’s function beyond cash-like payments by enabling interest-bearing e-CNY wallets at commercial banks. PBOC Deputy Governor Lu Lei described the change as transitioning the e-CNY toward a "digital deposit currency" that could be used for value storage, asset and liability management, and cross-border payments.

Analysts say the surge in mBridge activity is a clear sign that China and its partners are actively building alternatives to existing global payment infrastructures, with potential implications for the international role of the yuan, financial interoperability, and the strategic landscape of cross-border settlements. As governance rests with central banks and operational tests expand, policymakers and market participants will be watching whether mBridge can convert pilot momentum into sustained, scaled use across trade finance, government payments, and private-sector settlement.