2024

United

Bank AI

Update : This article has been updated to mention that mBridge is still in pilot phase and not commercially launched.
The central bank of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) conducted its first cross-border digital dirham transfer using the mBridge central bank digital currency (CBDC) platform on Jan. 29.
The 50 million dirhams ($13.6 million) cross-border CBDC transfer was sent to China using the multi-CBDC mBridge platform, <a href="https://gulfnews.com/business/video-first-cross-border-payment-made-using-uaes-digital-dirham-1.100731629" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">according</a>&nbsp;to Gulf News. The chairman of the board of the Central Bank of the UAE, Sheikh Mansour, conducted the CBDC transfer on the occasion of the golden jubilee celebration of the establishment of the central bank.
Project mBridge was <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/mbridge-cbdc-project-preparing-new-members-minimum-viable-product" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">introduced in 2021</a> by the central monetary authorities of China, Hong Kong, Thailand and the UAE in partnership with the Bank for International Settlement (BIS). It is the only international collaborative partnership that involves China. The <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bis-marks-cbdc-pilot-as-successful-with-22m-transacted" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">project completed its first pilot in September 2022</a>.
The mBridge platform has onboarded multiple commercial banks from each participating member nation to work on the infrastructure and technology.&nbsp;
<figure data-ct-non-breakable="true"><img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-01/59ce1654-0e18-47d6-b9cc-ae821b73f557.png" alt="" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">Commercial banks participating in Project mBridge. Source:&nbsp;BIS Innovation Hub
 </figcaption>
</figure>
The mBridge ledger platform uses single-platform, direct-access infrastructure to make real-time, peer-to-peer transactions with the HotStuff+ consensus mechanism. The CBDC platform allows faster transfers of each participant country’s national digital currency.
One member of the United States Congress also <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/dems-speak-up-global-leadership-us-cbdc-republicans-fear-dark-side" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">took note of mBridge’s advancements</a>. Representative Maxine Waters, who is a member of the House Financial Services Committee, voiced her worries about the project’s potential to be used as a cover for avoiding economic penalties.
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/tom-emmer-crypto-sleeper-issue-2024-elections" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Rep. Tom Emmer: Digital assets will be a ‘sleeper issue’ for 2024 elections</a>
After the popularity of blockchain technology and the use of digital currencies on the distributed ledger, governments worldwide started exploring the use of blockchain technology to create a national digital currency issued by the central bank.
According to a BIS report, nearly 90% of central banks worldwide&nbsp;<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bis-90-of-central-banks-are-researching-the-utility-of-cbdcs" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">are looking to adopt CBDCs</a><a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bis-90-of-central-banks-are-researching-the-utility-of-cbdcs" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"></a>. Out of these, 11 countries have launched a CBDC, 15 are in the pilot stage, and 26 are in the development phase, <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/cbdctracker/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">according</a> to the CBDC tracker from the Atlantic Council.
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/opinion-republican-crypto-maxis-democrat-anti-crypto-army-mchenry-warren/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Opinion: GOP crypto maxis almost as bad as Dems’ ‘anti-crypto army’</a>

UAE makes first digital dirham transfer via mBridge CBDC platform

Cointelegraph

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