To challenge SWIFT’s international status, China’s mBridge has cut transaction fees in half and is aggressively pushing international payments.

China joins forces with four countries to prepare the launch of the blockchain cross-border payments platform mBridge, which focuses on low transaction fees and high efficiency, challenging the SWIFT system and the US dollar’s dominant position.

China is preparing to roll out a cross-border payments network underpinned by blockchain technology called “mBridge” (Multilateral Central Bank Digital Currency Bridge). The platform is supported jointly by five major central banks and has already handled a transaction volume as high as 69 billion US dollars (about 470 billion yuan RMB). As the system moves into the commercial operations stage, it is seen not only as a major step for China to challenge the US dollar’s global trade dominance, but also as something that could fundamentally reshape the existing international payments landscape.

China teams up with four countries to drive mBridge—launching a new de-dollarized cross-border payments platform

Led by the People’s Bank of China, the other key participants include the Hong Kong, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, and the Saudi Arabian central banks. According to sources, in the future, a dedicated agency will be set up in Hong Kong to oversee its operations. The commercialization of this digital currency project is expected to significantly reduce participating countries’ reliance on the US dollar and further strengthen the economic ties between Beijing and its “Belt and Road” trade partners.

Cut fees by half! mBridge targets small and mid-sized businesses, challenging SWIFT’s dominance

According to a report by the Financial Times, although the specific commercial go-live date has not been made public, internal preparations have entered the final stage. Compared with the traditional international payment system SWIFT, mBridge’s biggest advantage is its use of blockchain technology, which compresses foreign exchange transaction settlement time to just a few seconds. Its transaction fees have been cut even more dramatically by 50%. For many small and mid-sized businesses that consider current cross-border payment costs too high and procedures too cumbersome, mBridge will offer a more attractive and practical alternative.

Expand digital yuan use cases; geopolitics boosts yuan settlement volume

In recent international geopolitical conflicts, China’s traditional cross-border renminbi payments system (Cips, China’s version of SWIFT) has seen a sharp surge in usage. As a complementary system, mBridge is seizing the opportunity to expand the market share of “digital renminbi” (e-CNY). Tom Keatinge, director of the Financial and Security Centre at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in the UK, pointed out that an “arms race for alternative financial systems” is quietly underway. This has also prompted the US, under President Trump, to start embracing dollar-pegged stablecoins.

Transaction volume reaches 69 billion US dollars—blockchain technology upends traditional foreign exchange settlement

mBridge not only adopts blockchain technology, but also enables central banks of different countries to conduct direct transactions using their own digital currencies. This not only weakens the role of the US dollar as an intermediary currency, but also compresses foreign exchange transaction time to just a few seconds.

According to insiders, with central banks supervising, commercial banks can also participate. Currently, the platform has accumulated approximately 470 billion yuan RMB (about 69 billion US dollars) in transaction volume. Gene Ma, head of China research at the Institute of International Finance (IIF), said that in the past, the global payments map was led by SWIFT, but it is now fragmenting into a scenario of multiple competing networks, and mBridge is set to become an important player among them.

Unfazed by international political pressure, the new system aligns with global anti-money-laundering standards

Looking back at its development history, mBridge’s predecessor was the Inthanon-LionRock project, a collaboration between the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Thailand central bank. It was later expanded in 2021 after the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), China, and the United Arab Emirates joined.

Although BIS transferred the project to partner parties in 2024 (with rumors suggesting it was due to political pressure from Washington, which BIS denied), officials from BIS and the People’s Bank of China emphasized that the platform fully complies with international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to prevent money laundering, strictly preventing illegal flows of funds. In the long run, it will help strengthen China’s influence within the global monetary order.

• This article is reprinted with authorization from: 《Chain News》
• Original title: 《Cut fees directly in half! China promotes mBridge blockchain international payments, challenging SWIFT’s dominance》
• Original author: Co2