Overview
- The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) completed its mBridge proof‑of‑concept on May 13, 2025 and formally ended participation after that planned trial, the bank confirmed in reporting made public on September 20, 2026.
- Project mBridge is a wholesale cross‑border payments system that uses central‑bank digital currencies on a shared distributed ledger and continues to be developed by China, Hong Kong, Thailand and the UAE toward a commercial launch under a new Hong Kong‑based entity.
- SAMA said its role was exploratory and not a commitment to an operational platform, framing the exit as the natural end of a technical trial rather than a policy reversal on digital payments.
- The kingdom’s withdrawal highlights governance and sanctions concerns because mBridge’s rails could reduce reliance on correspondent banking and dollar clearing, which U.S. officials and analysts have said might complicate enforcement of sanctions.
- Separate Saudi commercial trials, including Riyad Bank’s Jeel testing Ripple technologies for payment corridors, custody and tokenization, show private‑sector experimentation running in parallel with central bank CBDC work without publicly replacing mBridge.