[Global On-Chain Projects File.009] Project mBridge

Can central bank digital currencies be exchanged directly without going through correspondent banks?

A multi-CBDC settlement platform for real-value assets shared by multiple central banks.

Last updated: August 2026

In current cross-border payments, funds pass through multiple banks and accounts to be sent from one country to another.

If the sending bank does not have a direct account relationship with the receiving bank, a correspondent bank acts as an intermediary.

Even for a single transfer,

• sending bank

• intermediary bank

• foreign exchange bank

• receiving bank

• national central bank settlement systems

are involved.

Each institution uses different ledgers, operating hours, regulations, and data formats.

As a result,

• processing takes time

• fees are not known in advance

• funds get stuck in transit

• difficult to track transaction status

• repetitive compliance checks

• difficult to send money to countries without correspondent relationships

This problem arises.

Project mBridge sought to fundamentally change this structure.

Central banks of participating countries issue wholesale CBDCs of their own currencies on a common DLT platform.

Participating commercial banks use these central bank digital currencies to settle funds and foreign exchange directly and instantly with banks in other countries.

The question is,

.

Project Card

Official Name
Project mBridge

Predecessor
Project Inthanon-LionRock

Start Date
2021

Founding Participants

• Hong Kong Monetary Authority

• Bank of Thailand

• Digital Currency Institute of the People’s Bank of China

• Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates

• BIS Innovation Hub Hong Kong Centre

Additional Official Participants
Saudi Central Bank: Joined in 2024

Target Money
Wholesale CBDCs issued by central banks of each country

Platform
mBridge Ledger

Main Transactions

• Cross-border interbank settlement

• International remittances for corporate clients

• Foreign exchange

• Payment versus Payment: PvP

Key Milestones

• 2022: 20 banks conducted real-value transactions

• 2024: Reached Minimum Viable Product (MVP) stage

• 2024: Handover from BIS Innovation Hub to participating partners

• 2026: Transaction cases from Macau to Hong Kong, UAE, and mainland China

mBridge is a mechanism for issuing, transferring, and exchanging multiple CBDCs in real-time on the newly built mBridge Ledger. In the 2024 MVP, each founding central bank operated validation nodes, and a legal and governance rulebook supporting real-value transactions was also established.

What is recorded on the mBridge ledger?

What is recorded on mBridge is not commercial bank deposits.

It is wholesale CBDC issued by each country's central bank.

For example,

• Digital Yuan issued by the People's Bank of China

• Central bank money of Hong Kong

• Digital Baht issued by the Bank of Thailand

• Digital Dirham issued by the Central Bank of the UAE

are handled on the same mBridge Ledger.

Commercial banks obtain CBDCs from their respective central banks and use those CBDCs to make payments to foreign banks.

Since the central bank money itself resides on a common platform, there is no need to post-process interbank settlements via separate RTGS systems or correspondent accounts.

A transfer on mBridge constitutes a direct settlement using central bank money.

Why place central bank money on a common platform?

Commercial bank deposits in Country A and commercial bank deposits in Country B are liabilities of different banks.

When exchanging commercial bank deposits, settlement using central bank money is ultimately required between banks.

In traditional international remittances, this final settlement is performed sequentially through each country's domestic payment system and correspondent accounts.

With mBridge, central bank money is placed on a common platform from the start.

This allows for the processing of

• payment instructions

• CBDC transfers

• foreign exchange

• final interbank settlement

• transaction records

to be handled on the same network.

mBridge is an approach that creates a new payment infrastructure capable of handling multi-currency central bank money, rather than simply adding new messaging capabilities to legacy correspondent networks.

How does a single international remittance flow?

For example, consider a case where a Chinese company pays a UAE company.

Step 1 | The remitter makes a request to the bank

The Chinese company requests its participating bank in China to make a payment to the UAE company.

Banks verify the

• sender

• recipient

• purpose of transaction

• AML/CFT

• sanctions

• required documents

.

Step 2 | Sending bank acquires CBDC

The sending bank acquires the necessary digital yuan from its central bank.

The central bank issues CBDC on the mBridge Ledger in exchange for existing central bank deposits held by the sending bank.

Step 3 | Determine foreign exchange conditions

Determine the conditions for exchanging yuan to UAE dirhams.

The bank providing the foreign exchange presents the

• rate

• amount

• expiration date

• fees

.

Step 4 | Lock both currencies

Lock the CBDCs on both the renminbi side and the dirham side.

Ensure that only one currency is not transferred.

Step 5 | Exchange via PvP

Exchange the renminbi and dirham simultaneously through Payment versus Payment.

Execute only if both are successful; if one fails, void both.

Step 6 | Receiving bank deposits funds into the customer's account

The receiving bank in the UAE increases the commercial bank deposit of the receiving company based on the digital dirham received.

In this structure, the transfer of central bank money and foreign exchange settlement are completed on mBridge.

2022 Real-Value Pilot

In 2022, a pilot using CBDCs with actual value was conducted with the participation of 20 banks from mainland China, Hong Kong, Thailand, and the UAE.

Over 6 weeks,

• 164 payment and foreign exchange transactions

• a total value exceeding $22 million

• over $12 million in CBDC issuance

were carried out.

This was not a transfer of simulated tokens.

It was a settlement of central bank money with actual value on mBridge by commercial banks on behalf of their corporate clients.

Additions in the MVP

In 2024, mBridge advanced to the Minimum Viable Product stage.

To progress from PoC to MVP, not only technical functions but also

• Participant Eligibility

• Central Bank Authority

• Node Operation

• CBDC Issuance and Redemption

• Transaction Monitoring

• Fault Handling

• Legal Finality

• Relationship with National Regulations

• Governance

• Rulebook

have been established.

The mBridge Ledger is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and is designed to connect external applications, smart contracts, and new use cases.

The MVP was declared ready for real-value transactions to the extent that participating countries are prepared.

From the BIS to Participating Partners

In October 2024, the BIS handed over mBridge to the participating partners.

Therefore, it is no longer accurate to describe the current mBridge as a 'project operated by the BIS'.

While the BIS Innovation Hub supported technical development and proof-of-concept, the operation and development following the MVP have shifted to the participating central banks.

This does not mean that the project has ended.

It means that it has moved beyond the experimental phase to a stage where the participating central banks themselves are responsible for network expansion, real transactions, and operational structures.

On the other hand, whether neutral governance can be maintained between different countries and currencies after the BIS, as an international organization, has stepped back from operations will be a key point in evaluating mBridge.

Current Status in 2026

In June 2026, the Bank of China announced that cross-border transactions using mBridge had commenced in Macau.

The announced transactions include:

• Remittances of over 20 million RMB from Macau to Hong Kong

• RMB remittances from Macau to the UAE

• Macau Pataca remittances from Macau to mainland China

are included.

This is an announcement by a single bank and does not represent the commercial scale or the total number of participants in mBridge as a whole.

However, it is a concrete example showing that participation regions and corporate usage have expanded since the limited pilot in 2022.

Differences from Agorá

mBridge and Project Agorá both use central bank money for cross-border payments.

However, their structures differ significantly.

mBridge

• Centered on central bank digital currencies

• Places multiple CBDCs on the same mBridge Ledger

• Commercial banks exchange CBDCs directly

• Aims for direct settlement without going through correspondent banks

• Has been conducting real-value transactions since 2022

• Centered on China, Hong Kong, Thailand, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia

Project Agorá

• Handles both commercial bank deposits and central bank reserves

• Combines a common platform with jurisdiction-specific central bank ledgers

• Maintains and enhances current correspondent banking relationships

• Integrates deposits, foreign exchange, and compliance into a single workflow

• Prototype completion in 2026, moving to real-value verification

To summarize,

mBridge is a more direct multi-CBDC infrastructure.

Agorá more strongly maintains the current financial structure where commercial banks provide customer money.

Problems mBridge must solve

1. Foreign exchange liquidity

Even if you can issue CBDC, you cannot trade if there is no counterparty to exchange different currencies.

For currencies other than major ones,

• market makers

• exchange rates

• liquidity

• spreads

• transaction limits

must be secured.

2. Connection with domestic systems

Even if a CBDC is received on mBridge, in many cases, the customer will be using standard bank deposits.

For each country,

• RTGS

• bank core systems

• foreign exchange controls

• trade systems

• AML systems

connection is required.

3. Regulations by currency

Participating countries have differences in

• capital controls

• foreign exchange management

• sanctions regimes

• cross-border data regulations

• AML/CFT

• taxation

.

Even if a common ledger is used, it does not mean that each country's policy requirements will become uniform.

4. Privacy

When central banks and commercial banks use the same network,

• customer information

• counterparties

• transaction amounts

• currency positions

• bank liquidity

it is important to determine who can view these.

5. Governance

If the number of participating countries increases,

• who approves new participants

• how to decide on specification changes

• who halts the system in the event of a failure

• how to handle transactions with sanctioned countries

• what to do if nodes disagree

must be determined.

6. Network Neutrality

The common infrastructure is required not to be overly dependent on the technology, currency, or policies of any specific country.

If participating countries and transaction volumes concentrate on certain currencies, the influence of a specific currency may become dominant in practice, even if the system is jointly operated.

What Project mBridge has demonstrated

The greatest achievement of mBridge is not the technical experiment of CBDC.

is what it demonstrated.

Traditional cross-border payments connect domestic central bank systems and correspondent bank accounts in sequence.

mBridge places central bank money from multiple countries onto a common platform from the start.

This is an approach to creating a new foundation for cross-border interbank payments rather than improving the current system.

However, the creation of a common ledger does not solve all problems related to international remittances.

Foreign exchange liquidity, national regulations, domestic system connectivity, governance, and privacy remain.

The answer to the question in the title is as follows:

Next Episode Preview

Next time, we will cover Global Layer One, or GL1.

While mBridge actually built a single common platform, GL1 is attempting to create common infrastructure principles and compliance standards for DLTs intended for multiple financial institutions.