Saudi Arabia quietly dropped out of China’s mBridge digital payment platform, which Beijing has touted as an alternative to the dollar-dominated SWIFT system, according to the Financial Times. China launched mBridge in 2021, enabling central banks to use digital currencies to carry out transactions directly via blockchain technology. China, Hong Kong, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the so-called central bank for global central banks, initially signed up. Saudi Arabia told the FT that its central bank, also known as SAMA, first joined “mBridge under the umbrella of BIS as an observing member” in 2023 as part of its research into central bank digital currencies, then participated in efforts in 2024 to create a proof of concept.

Full report : China suffers another setback in effort to de-dollarize global finance as anchor in the greenback’s dominance quietly exits Beijing’s payment scheme.