China is close to the commercial launch of mBridge, a proposed blockchain-based settlement network that will compete directly with SWIFT. Beijing is pushing for the newly proposed settlement network, which already has more than $69 billion worth of successful transactions outside of the legacy SWIFT messaging system.
The mBridge project in China poses a direct threat to the dollar and the SWIFT ecosystem. This move is in line with China’s ongoing efforts to address over-reliance on the dollar. To date, mBridge has processed more than $69 billion outside traditional frameworks and aims to internationalize the Chinese yuan as an alternative to the dominant US dollar.
According to reports, mBridge The platform offers much lower transaction costs, estimated at about half of the typical costs in the SWIFT network. The mBridge project is primarily aimed at smaller organizations, which often find SWIFT expensive and, at times, inconvenient, especially for cross-border transactions that require long wait times.
Although the project is still in its early stages, people familiar with the matter revealed that a specialized legal entity based in Hong Kong will take over mBridge’s day-to-day operations once it reaches commercial status.
Central banks in Asia and the Middle East support mBridge
The mBridge project has been under development since 2021. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has cooperated with the Bank of Thailand, People’s Bank of ChinaAnd the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates to begin initial experiments.
Saudi Arabia and the Bank for International Settlements later joined in 2024. The BIS joined to provide oversight after mBridge was flagged for potentially avoiding dollar-based sanctions. mBridge was first launched in 2025, when the UAE became the first major country to test live transactions directly on its network.
Currently, mBridge operates in 6 regions and hopes to expand in the future. mBridge facilitates cross-border transactions between China, Hong Kong, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, and most recently, Macau.
Tom Keating, founding director of the Center for Finance and Security at the Royal United Services Institute, described The broader strategy behind the project is as a kind of digital currency version of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, framing it as one part of a long-term plan to give cryptocurrencies a permanent seat at the global settlement table.
How is mBridge a threat to SWIFT?
SWIFT remains the undisputed king of cross-border transactions, with an annual transaction volume of more than approximately $150 trillion. However, technological advances in finance pose a constant challenge to the status quo. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been touted as a suitable alternative to the current TradFi ecosystem.
However, with stablecoins now accounting for a significant share of digital transactions, mBridge presents a challenge Swiftwith its primary focus on yuan-based stablecoins that offer alternatives to players moving away from the dollar.
Unlike SWIFT, the Chinese-backed project reportedly addressed structural weaknesses in the SWIFT ecosystem. The platform applies blockchain technology to settle transactions directly on a shared ledger using multiple central bank digital currencies. The implementation completely removes the correspondent banking layer, reducing settlement time from several days under the SWIFT ecosystem to just a few seconds.
said Wang Jian, chief financial sector analyst at Guosen Securities Argue Adopting mBridge could ease liquidity pressures and accelerate cash turnover for participating central banks. However, other observers also point out that most of the current volume still flows between just two members, China and Hong Kong, meaning the network’s claim to global influence has yet to be tested on a large scale.
