China-led mBridge CBDC network tops $55B as e-CNY dominates cross-border settlements

China-led mBridge, a wholesale multi-CBDC settlement platform tested by central banks in mainland China, Hong Kong, Thailand, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, has processed over $55.5 billion across more than 4,000 cross-border transactions since its pilot — a roughly 2,500-fold increase from 2022. Growth is driven by heavy use of China’s digital yuan (e-CNY), which accounts for about 95% of mBridge settlement volume. Concurrently, domestic e-CNY activity has surged: China’s central bank reports over 3.4 billion e-CNY transactions totaling RMB 16.7 trillion (~$2.4 trillion), up more than 800% year-on-year. China is piloting a framework allowing commercial banks to pay interest on e-CNY wallet balances, shifting e-CNY toward a “digital deposit” role. mBridge offers EVM-compatible ledger features, real-time payment-versus-payment atomic settlement, smart-contract programmability, and direct multi-CBDC conversions — shortening settlement times to seconds and cutting costs by up to 70% versus legacy correspondent banking and SWIFT messaging. The BIS withdrew operational control in late 2024, handing governance to participating central banks amid geopolitical sensitivity and concerns about sanction circumvention; it is focusing instead on projects with Western central banks. Analysts view mBridge and expanding e-CNY rails as building parallel settlement channels that reduce dependence on the dollar system in certain corridors rather than directly displacing the U.S. dollar. For traders, key implications include increased on-chain settlement activity in affected FX corridors, potential rebalancing of trade finance and FX demand toward digital-payment rails, and the need to monitor liquidity, corridor-specific FX spreads, and regulatory responses that could alter cross-border flow dynamics.