Saudi Arabia quits the China-led mBridge payment platform

Saudi Arabia has withdrawn from a Beijing-led digital currency programme, the Financial Times reported¹. The Saudi Central Bank, known as SAMA, confirmed the exit to the paper⁷. One account dated the end of participation to after a test in May 2025⁸. Other outlets reported the withdrawal without giving a date, describing it as a quiet exit made some time before it became public⁵.

The platform, mBridge, was developed by the Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub together with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority⁴, and initially by the People’s Bank of China, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Bank of Thailand and the central bank of the United Arab Emirates⁹. Riyadh joined the project in 2024 alongside China, Hong Kong, Thailand, the UAE and the BIS³. SAMA first joined as an observing member in 2023 and became an active participant in 2024⁵. The BIS itself announced in October 2024 that it was stepping back², and withdrew from the project that month⁶.

Why it matters to investors

mBridge is the most advanced attempt to settle cross-border trade between central banks without touching the dollar system, and the departure of the largest oil exporter removes the participant that would have mattered most to any oil-for-yuan settlement channel^1,7.

The reasons given vary by account, which is itself informative. Several outlets tied the exit to US pressure and the broader argument over dollar dominance⁸. Another framed it around governance and compliance concerns inside the platform⁹. Those are different stories with different implications: one says Washington can still deter participation, the other says the project has internal problems that have nothing to do with Washington.

What to watch

The project has now lost both its institutional sponsor and its most significant Gulf member. The BIS stepped back in October 2024^2,6, and the remaining membership is the founding group of China, Hong Kong, Thailand and the UAE^3,9. Whether any of those four follows Riyadh is the next test of whether mBridge remains a live alternative or becomes a technical pilot.

For investors positioning around de-dollarisation, the usable signal is participation rather than rhetoric. Reporting noted that Washington had previously been described as watching the platform closely⁶, and the confirmation came from the central bank itself rather than from a leak⁷. Announcements of intent are cheap; a central bank formally ending participation is not¹.