London: Transactions on a new China-led digital currency platform have surged to over $55 billion, a new report shows, the latest sign that efforts to build alternatives to dollar-dependent global payment systems are gaining traction.
Data crunched by the Washington-based Atlantic Council showed the prototype ‘mBridge’ platform, which is being tested by central banks in China, Hong Kong, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, had now processed more than 4,000 cross-border transactions.
The cumulative $55.5 billion value of those payments represents a roughly 2,500-fold increase since the project’s early days of 2022, with the digital yuan estimated to now account for approximately 95% of the volume. The e-CNY, as it is also known, remains the world’s largest live central bank digital currency experiment. Recent People’s Bank of China (PBOC) figures showed it had processed more than 3.4 billion transactions worth roughly 16.7 trillion yuan ($2.4 trillion), a more than 800% leap from 2023.
Chinese state media reported last month that the e-CNY will also start paying interest to those holding it in their digital bank accounts or wallets this year, a move widely seen as designed to boost usage. Rather than seeking to displace the dollar outright, China and its counterparts are building parallel settlement rails, Chhangani said, that reduce reliance on existing dollar-based systems. The PBOC did not immediately respond to an out-of-business-hours request for comment on the figures.
