PANews reported on October 29 that the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is discussing whether to shut down the pilot cross-border payment platform mBridge (Multilateral Central Bank Digital Currency Bridge Project). Previously, Russian President Putin viewed this foundational technology as a tool to evade sanctions and potentially undermine the dollar's dominance in the global financial system.
Insiders revealed that the mBridge project was one of the topics discussed by central bank governors and finance ministers at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings held in Washington last week. The project promises to allow remittances around the world without relying on U.S. banks; closing the project is one of the options on the table.
The term of Agustin Carstens, President of the Bank for International Settlements, will end in June. He stated last Saturday at the G30 event in the U.S. capital: 'We cannot directly support any projects of the BRICS countries because we cannot work with sanctioned countries—I want to make this very clear.'