(Yicai) Nov. 3 — Developers of mBridge, a multiple-central bank digital currency project co-established by China’s central bank, are working on a road map to widen the influence of the cross-border platform that is safe to use, according to a Chinese official.
Only transaction parties and financial regulators of the countries or regions involved in the mBridge trade can see transaction details, Mu Changchun, director of the Digital Currency Institute of the People’s Bank of China which is one of the project developers, said during a symposium of Hong Kong FinTech Week yesterday. For example, if a bank in the United Arab Emirates transfers digital Hong Kong dollars to a Hong Kong-based commercial bank, only the pair, as well as the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates can observe the content.
In February 2021, the PBOC institute joined hands with the HMA, Bank of Thailand, and the CBUAE to launch the project to explore CBDCs in cross-border payments to reduce costs while increasing transparency and speed. Besides the four founding central banks, the project has more than 25 observing members, including Bank of France, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Reserve Bank of Australia, and World Bank.
The core of the mBridge platform is the proprietary mBridge Ledger. Each participating central bank, monetary authority, or commercial organization owns and manages its own nodes. All sensitive data, such as transaction records and user certificates, are stored in their respective nodes, and blockchain helps guarantee privacy, Mu explained.
Last year’s pilot facilitated major transfers. From August to September 2022, some 20 commercial banks in the four countries and regions finished over 160 transfers worth more than CNY150 million (USD20.5 million). Payments in digital yuan made up nearly 47 percent of the total, involving scenarios such as foreign trade payments, cross-border remittances, and interbank transactions, per Mu.
The mBridge committee is studying the strategic planning of the project and formulating a road map to gradually develop it into an influential cross-border payment infrastructure, he added.
Editors: Tang Shihua, Emmi Laine
