The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is advancing to the testing phase of the minimum viable product (MVP) as part of Project mBridge, an international central bank digital currency (CBDC) initiative, and plans to involve private sector representatives in the process.
The BIS representatives announced that Project mBridge reached the MVP stage and is expanding its international presence. The project’s goal is to create a DLT platform for the joint use of CBDCs by multiple central and commercial banks to facilitate instant cross-border payments and settlements.
The project already includes more than 26 permanent members, such as:
- BIS Innovation Hub;
- People’s Bank of China;
- Hong Kong Monetary Authority;
- Bank of Thailand;
- Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates;
- Saudi Central Bank, and others.
Previously, only public and international entities participated in the project, but at the MVP testing stage, the BIS representatives plan to involve private entities. They’re invited to develop new solutions and use cases to further develop and demonstrate the platform’s potential. Interested parties need to fill out the appropriate form to participate in the project.
Currently, the platform operates on the mBridge Ledger blockchain and supports the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). The testing phase aims to evaluate the platform’s functionality, the development of additional technological solutions, new use cases, and interoperability with other platforms.
According to the CBDC Tracker service, there are currently 165 active central bank digital currency projects worldwide, of which four are fully launched, and 18, including mBridge, are in the pilot launch phase. A similar service by the Atlantic Council reports different statistics, noting a total of 134 CBDC projects, with three fully operational digital currencies and 36 projects in the pilot testing stage.
The BIS representatives announced the transition to the new phase of Project mBridge in November last year. At that time, plans were revealed to launch the MVP for commercial use based on current developments.
