mBridge (Multi-CBDC Cross-Border Payments) by People's Bank of China: status and timeline

Milestones

Next · Additional central bank participants announced

Initial central bank testing2023Complete.
Real-value testing expanded2025Complete.
Macau fully joins mBridgeJun 2026Complete.

Most important updates

mBridge processes $55.5 billion in cross-border transactions; digital yuan dominates with 95% of volume; Macau fully joinsJun 2026

Upcoming

2027Additional central bank participants announced (next)

Current obstacles

Geopolitical concernsSome nations wary of joining a China-led system; the US views it as challenge to dollar dominance.
Limited participant basemBridge currently works only among its member central banks. Expanding to other regions requires regulatory approval and buy-in from additional countries.

Physics limits

Interoperability with other systemsMust interoperate with other CBDC platforms and networks. Consensus on standards across jurisdictions is difficult.
Trust in the lead institutionPBOC leadership raises concerns about Chinese control over settlement infrastructure.

How it works

3 parts

Tokenization

Central banks tokenize their currencies

Participating central banks represent portions of their reserves as digital tokens on the mBridge ledger, backed by actual reserves held in reserve accounts.

Settlement

Atomic multi-currency clearing

Smart contracts atomically settle both sides of transactions, eliminating settlement risk across borders.

Access

Commercial banks via their central banks

Commercial banks submit orders to their central bank, which uses mBridge for cross-border settlement.

Spec sheet

Spec	mBridge (Multi-CBDC Cross-Border Payments)
Cumulative transactions	Over 4,000^R (reported)
Total transaction volume	$55.5B^R (reported)
Digital yuan share	~95%^R (reported)

^R reported by the company

Update log

1 update

Jun 2026

Major: mBridge processes $55.5 billion in cross-border transactions; digital yuan dominates with 95% of volume; Macau fully joinsOtherCommercial

About People's Bank of China

The team behind mBridge (Multi-CBDC Cross-Border Payments)

People's Bank of China

Digital yuan, CBDC, cross-border payments

The People's Bank of China (PBOC), China's central bank established 1948, issues the renminbi and sets monetary policy. In 2026, e-CNY reached 3.48B transactions (16.7T yuan), the world's largest live CBDC. E-CNY gained interest-bearing status January 2026; mBridge processed $55.5B.

E-CNY: 3.48B transactions, 16.7T yuan ($2.3T), 230M personal wallets, 18.84M institutional wallets.
From Jan 1 2026: e-CNY earns interest; reclassified from cash to bank liability to incentivize adoption.
mBridge: 4000+ transactions, $55.5B volume; digital yuan is ~95% of volume; Macau joined June 2026.

pbc.gov.cn (opens pbc.gov.cn)Company profile →

Founded: 194878 yrs
Headquarters: China
Status: Government
Valuation: government
Works in: CryptoStablecoins & tokenization
Coverage: 2 programs · 3 updateslatest 1 Jun 2026checked 11 Oct
Partners: Hong Kong Monetary Authority (opens hkma.gov.hk)Bank of Thailand (opens bot.or.th)Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (opens cbuae.ae)

Spec

mBridge (Multi-CBDC Cross-Border Payments)

Cumulative transactions

Over 4,000^R (reported)

Total transaction volume

$55.5B^R (reported)

Digital yuan share

~95%^R (reported)