Project mBridge experiments with a multiple-central bank digital currency (multi-CBDC) common platform for wholesale cross-border payments. It seeks to solve some of the key inefficiencies of cross-border payments, such as high costs, low speed and transparency, and operational complexities. The project is a collaborative effort of the BIS Innovation Hub, four founding central banks and over 25 observing members.
At the same time, the project aims to safeguard currency sovereignty and monetary and financial stability for each participating jurisdiction, guided by the principles of “do no harm”, compliance and interoperability. Project mBridge’s platform is underpinned by custom-built distributed ledger technology (DLT), a set of comprehensive legal rulebook documents and a fit-for-purpose governance structure.
A next envisaged stage in this project is to see if the platform tested can evolve to become a minimum viable product, which entails continued work on the technology and legal and governance frameworks; acting as a testbed and evaluating potential synergies with other BIS Innovation Hub projects and innovative private sector solutions; and welcoming new participants and use cases.